


Hypothermia

by pranxtorr



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-01
Updated: 2015-12-02
Packaged: 2018-04-29 08:11:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 22,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5121197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pranxtorr/pseuds/pranxtorr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You were up on that mountain with them. Your long time best friend Michael Munroe had dragged you up with the rest of your friends, but you soon found yourself facing the threat by yourself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first part of a Mike x Reader that I’m going to be doing! Originally it was going to be an OC instead of a reader insert, but I figured that more people would be interested in the latter. I’m thinking that there are going to be about ten parts, though that may change depending on the length of each chapter. Also, I pulled a lot of dialogue from the game, so if you recognize any of it, that’s why! Enjoy!

“Come on, Mike, don’t do this.”

“Oh calm down, would you? It’s not that bad. Just got a lot of love to give,” Michael said.

“No, Mike, if you do this-”

You were cut off by Emily. “Last time I checked, you aren’t Mike. He’s old enough to make his own decisions.”

You glared half-heartedly at her. “This isn’t fair!” you attempted to reason with your best friend one last time. “Mike, if you do this, I’m never talking to you again!”

He rolled his eyes at your juvenile threat, “Yeah, uh-huh. Just like you never talked to me ever again after I ate your pizza last week?” Your stomach sank at his dismissal. He was really going to go through with this, wasn’t he?

Jessica stood up from where she had been writing a note for Hannah. She smirked and whispered, “All done,” before skipping over to set it on the counter.

“Oh my god, I can’t believe you actually did this!” Emily squealed while Jess hushed her.

Sam, the only one who shared your opinion on this prank, spoke up, “Don’t you guys think this is a little bit cruel?” You hit Mike’s shoulder and gestured towards her, but he just gave you an arrogant smile in reply.

“Oh come on, she deserves it,” Jessica said.

“It is not her fault that she has a huge crush on Mike-”

“Hannah’s been making moves on him.  I’m just looking out for my girl Em,” Jessica told her before turning around and walking out of the kitchen.

As the rest of you followed, Emily said, “Just because he’s class Prez doesn’t mean he belongs to everyone… Mike is my man.”

“Hey, Em. I’m not anybody’s man,” as he said this, Mike threw his arm around you and wiggled his eyebrows.  You scowled and ducked under him.

“Whatever you say, Darling!” Emily giggled.

You groaned in irritation. “I’m going to tell Beth,” you warned your friends, but they barely even glanced in your direction before continuing to their destination.

Scowling, you walked back into the kitchen only to see Beth inspecting Jessica’s faux letter.

She said your name like it was a question - you could see the confusion on her face.  She handed you the letter and you crumpled it in anger. “Beth,” you said, “Hannah, she’s-”

You were interrupted by yelling coming from upstairs, followed by the slam of the front door. Beth whipped around as you saw someone running outside.  “Those jerks!” you growled.  Beth glanced at the door and then to Josh and Chris - who were passed out at the counter - before running to her brother.

You ran into the foyer as she tried to shake Josh awake.  “I’m going to kill you!” you cried at your friends on the doorstep, your voice shaking with rage.

“What’s going on? Where’s my sister going?” Beth asked as she joined the group outside.

“Ugh, it’s fine… she just can’t take a joke…” Jessica told her.

“It was just a prank, Han!” Emily yelled into the darkness.

Beth’s face hardened.  “What did you do?!?” she demanded.

Mike, who had been avoiding your glare of disapproval, said, “We were just messing around, Beth… It wasn’t serious-”

“You jerks!” Beth yelled before running into the forest, chasing after her sister.  “Hannah! HANNAH!”

“So… should we go after her?” Mike asked awkwardly.

“You know, I kind of think you’re the last person she wants to see right now, Mike,” Sam said.

You punched Mike’s arm, “I told you! I FUCKING TOLD YOU!” each syllable interjected with another punch.

He grabbed your wrists and held them in place, still avoiding your eyes.

“Oh, relax,” Jessica said, “It’s gonna be fine.”

You turned to face her as Emily said, “I don’t know Jess, it’s pretty dark out…”

“Oh, you’re worried now? I’m sorry, but weren’t you all for this prank just ten minutes ago?” Jessica accused.

“Yeah, but I didn’t expect Hannah to run away like that!” Em defended.

“Hey, hey, none of us did,” Mike said. “Just chill out guys. They’ll be back soon.”

Except that they weren’t. After twenty minutes, it was just you, Ashley, and Emily outside. You had shoved Michael inside after his attempts at breaking the ice had started grating on your nerves, and Jess and Matt had joined him. Sam had followed them as well, mumbling something about “keeping them out of trouble”.

“Where are they?” Em asked, craning her neck to search the trees.

“Do you think they’re okay?” Ashley whimpered.

“Yeah… yeah,” Emily didn’t sound entirely sure. “I mean, it’s not like something could really happen to them.”

“Maybe we should go look for them,” you said. You were freezing and exhausted, the adrenaline from before gone, but you weren’t about to bail on your friends.

“And get lost ourselves?” As much as you hated to admit it, Emily had a point. If Hannah and Beth had gotten lost in the forest that they grew up in, how would you be able to find your way?

“Oh god,” Ashley sniffled, tears shining in her eyes. “Oh god oh god oh god, what if they don’t come back?”

You glanced down at your crying friend and wrapped an arm around her. Even if you were mad at her for taking part in the prank, you knew that she didn’t want this to happen. “Come on, Ash, let’s get you inside,” you said gently.

With Ashley and Emily in tow, you finally stepped inside the lodge, though the atmosphere was just as icy as it was outside. Emily immediately walked over to Mike and clung to him. You brought Ashley to a chair and set her down with a blanket, before heading over to Sam. She was staring out the window and jumped slightly when you put a hand on her shoulder. You were almost at your breaking point, and she must have seen it on your face, because she wrapped her arms around you gently.

Mike jumped up and broke the silence, “We’ve gotta go look for them.”

“Are you insane?” Emily asked from beside him.

“It’s been almost half an hour. If they’re in trouble, they need help.”

Sam stepped away from you and said, “Yeah… okay. I’ll go too.” Matt nodded and stood up, along with Emily after a moment’s hesitation.

“Anyone else?” Mike asked, trying to lock eyes with you, but you avoided his gaze. Your stomach churned; you felt betrayed. By your best friend, too! If he had just listened to you!

At your silence, Michael nodded slowly. “Okay, let’s head out.”

But they didn’t find anything, not even a clue as to where the girls had gone. The falling snow had covered their footprints and the forest was like a maze.

“I’m going to try to wake up Josh and Chris,” Sam said when they returned, hours later. “Then, we head back down the mountain and call the police.” You nodded, your insides growing cold.

How did this happen?


	2. Part 1

Blackwoods Pines was as cold as ever. You shivered as you stepped off the shuttle bus, wrapping your coat around you even tighter.

“Well, it’s a little chilly, isn’t it?” Mike said as he stepped off after you. “I’ll never understand why the Washingtons decided to buy a mountain in Canada. I would have gone for an island in the Bahamas.”

“Save it, Mike, I know you love the snow,” you told him as you opened the gate to the path.

“No no no, good lady, you’re mistaken! I just love kicking your ass in snowball fights.”

He walked in front of you, giving you a chance to stoop over and form a snowball before pitching it at his head. Mike gave out a high pitched yelp as some of the ice slipped down his collar. “I’m sorry, you were saying?” you asked innocently.

He narrowed his eyes and pointed at you, “Sneaky.”

You shrugged as you reached the large iron gate that lead to the cable car station. He put one hand on the metal and tugged, but it didn’t move. He made a confused noise and began pulling a little harder.

“Having trouble?” you asked teasingly.

“It won’t budge.”

You tried as well, but even with both of your strength combined, the gate remained shut.  “Is it locked?” you asked.

“I think it’s just jammed,” Mike said. He ran over to the stone wall on one side of it and crouched down. “Come on, I’ll help you over.”

“What?” you whined. After a beat, you walked over to him sighing in defeat. “Goddammit.” You stepped into his cupped hands and he raised you up to the top. You shimmied your lower body as you tried to make it over the wall, kicking Mike in the face lightly when you heard him whistle at you.

After you had both made it over the wall, you tried to catch your breath, but something felt off and you glanced around with a slight urgency. When Mike questioned your actions, you asked, “Does it feel like we’re being watched?”

He looked around the trees before shouting out, “Hello?” When no one answered, he turned to you and said, “I think the woods have just got you spooked. Relax.”

You nodded uneasily and continued walking. You certainly were spooked; the mountain seemed less welcoming than it had been the last time you were heading up it.

The cable car station looked the same as it always had. You dragged Mike over to the fence to stare up at the mountain and let out a breath. “It’s so pretty.”

“Yeah, it is. You know what else is pretty?” he asked you, eyes twinkling. When you raised an eyebrow, he proceeded, “You.”

Yeah, his eyes were twinkling all right. Twinkling with mischief.

You rolled your eyes while laughing, “Save it for Jessica, Mr. Lady Killer.”

“Ouch, shut down,” he said while clutching his chest.

“Don’t play with my heart, Mr. Munroe,” you teased and he laughed, walking over to the map of Blackwood Mountain. “There’d be no room for side bitches in this relationship.”

Your smile fell as you realized you weren’t staring at the map, but rather red paint that read “THE PAST IS BEYOND OUR CONTROL”. It was kind of unsettling.

“Damn, look at that. This wasn’t here last time,” Mike mumbled behind you and you shuddered.

“Who do you think did this?”

He pondered your question for a moment before answering, “Probably just some kids or something. Why all the way out here though?”

“Come on, let’s just get in the cable car,” you said, fishing the key to the station out of your pocket. You were done with being creeped out.

You pushed the door open and sighed with relief. “Nice, our ride’s already here waiting for us,” Mike said.

You sat down on the bench on one side while he took the other, glad to be out of the wind. “Ready for this?” you asked him as the car started up.

“Uh, yeah,” he replied, “Yeah I think so.”

“I just don’t know if I’ll be able to enjoy this after last year,” you said. “It’s… not going to be the same.”

“Well no, but just try to relax. You heard Josh, we should just spend some quality time together.”

“And by ‘we’ you mean you and Jess?” you giggled.

He smirked, “Unless you wanted to join in.”

Your face heated up and you hoped that it wasn’t noticeable. “You couldn’t handle me, Michael.”

* * *

“Ugh, finally, I thought I was gonna go insane in there.”

“Tell me about it, another few seconds and I would have started eating you.”

Despite everything, the cold and the creepiness, you were still glad to get out of the cable car. You stretched a little, breathing in the fresh air before looking around. “Are we the first ones here?” you asked.

“I think so. I know Jess was still on the way when we got off the bus,” Mike said, waving his phone around to try and get a signal. “Kind of weird that no one’s here to greet us this year.”

In the past, Hannah had always been waiting right at the station to see Mike, and by extension, you. The air seemed to grow colder as you realized that that would probably never happen again.

“Well, it’s not like we don’t know the way,” you told him, trying to shake off the bad feeling. “Maybe somebody’s already up at the lodge.”

He nodded and the two of you continued up the path together. You were about half-way up when Mike stopped in his tracks. “Oh shit,” he said, eyes wide.

“What?”

“Jess wanted to meet me at the cable car station.”

You made a face. “And you couldn’t remember this while we were still down there because…?”

“I just forgot, okay? I know you wanna keep me all to yourself, but I’ve got a lot of love to share. You’ve gotta make some room for the other ladies.”

“Oh ha ha,” you sneered. “Fine, fine. Maybe without you slowing me down, I’ll be able to get to the lodge before tomorrow morning!” He laughed and started walking back from where you had come from. “Be safe!” you yelled after him.

“Will do!” he shouted back, saluting you.

You waited a moment, watching his figure disappearing behind the trees before heading in the opposite direction yourself. Alone, the forest seemed more threatening. After what had happened with Hannah and Beth last year you wondered if the mountain would ever feel the same again. Probably not.

You jumped as a motion sensor light switched on. “Goddammit,” you cursed. Was this mountain out to get you? You shoved your hands in your pockets, intent on getting up to the lodge as quickly as possible.

But when you arrived, it was empty.

“Oh come on!” you whined. Did Josh really expect you to be okay sitting in this freezing weather? You shook the door, trying to open it, but it was locked up tight. You sat down on the front steps and curled into yourself. Why didn’t you bring a hat?

A few minutes later, though it seemed like forever, a small voice interrupted your misery. Ashley, who had said your name to get your attention (and consequently caused you to jump a couple feet in the air), peered down at you.

“Oh thank god, Ash! I thought I would be here alone forever!”

“Mike’s not with you?”

“Do you see him?” you asked with a brow raised, grinning.

“No,” she sighed. “Well, what about Josh? Shouldn’t he have gotten here first?”

“You’d think. But as you can see, we’re alone. Outside. Freezing.”

Ashley nodded, “Great.” There was an awkward pause before she started speaking again, “I’m… gonna go down the trail and look through the telescope. Wanna come?”

You shook your head and laughed, “No thanks. At least here the lodge is blocking the wind. If I move I’ll probably turn into an icicle. But if you see Josh, tell him to get his little ass up here and unlock the stupid door.”

“Okay, be back soon, I guess,” Ash waved goodbye before walking away, leaving you feeling even more alone than before.


	3. Part 2

Ashley wasn’t gone long; you barely had time to check your phone - and get frustrated at the lack of signal - before she came back with Matt in tow.

“Welcome back, I see you brought a friend,” you said to Ashley. “Hey Matt! Long time no see.”

“Yeah, hey,” he grumbled back at you.

You furrowed your brows; he wasn’t really one to act grumpy. Ever. “What’s with the rain clouds, buddy?”

“Nothing, it’s… nothing,” he sighed. “I’m fine.”

You looked to Ashley for some sort of clue of what was going on, but she just shrugged at you with a look of concern. You glanced between the two of them for a second, searching for something. Finally Ash gave in and mouthed “Em” at you.

“Hey guys… get up here okay?” Josh, who had just arrived with Sam and Chris, interrupted your silent conversation.

Ashley jumped at the chance to get out of the awkward silence that was hanging in the air, “Yeah… well, more or less. But it is so good to see you!”

You stood up and ran up to Josh, throwing your arms around him, “Josh! Man, I am so glad you’re here! You are a sight for sore eyes. Did you… bring some keys by any chance?”

He laughed and took a keyring out of his pocket and jangled it in your face. “You just love me for my keys,” he pouted.

“If it gets us inside, then you bet.”

Josh then turned to Matt, who was standing off to the side with his arms crossed. Jeez, it was just so weird to see like this. “‘Sup with him?” Josh asked.

You shrugged, still not entirely sure. Josh let it go easily enough though; he never was one for confrontation. He and Chris moved up to the door, hopefully to find a way to get you all inside.

“Hey,” Sam said, nudging your shoulder with her own, and you smiled in return. “You got here pretty early.”

“Oh, you have no idea,” you told her.

“At least you had Ashley and Matt to keep you company,” she pointed out, glancing at each one respectively. “What’s up with him, anyway?”

“Ash said something about Emily, but that’s about all I know,” you said and she nodded.

“Shocking. Speaking of relationships, though…” she trailed off, looking at Chris and Ashley, who were talking quietly on the stairs.

“Oooh, do you think something’s happening?”

“They’re both too scared to make the first move,” she said as Chris walked away from her and towards Matt instead.

“We’ve all been there.”

“I know, but, ugh, I just wish they’d just get it over with already. How about you and Mike? There always seemed to be something there, and now that he’s not with Emily-”

“He’s with Jess, now,” you laughed. “Trust me, I’ve thought about it, but he’s always flying from girl to girl so quickly that I can’t even take the idea seriously.”

Sam nodded and looked like she wanted to say something, but seemed to decide against it. She turned out to look at the woods and you breathed in the mountain air, glad that that conversation was over.

Chris, who had since moved on from talking to Matt, walked up from behind you, the sound of his feet crunching in the snow signalling his approach. Sam turned to him, a small fire in her eyes. “So, you seen Ash yet?” she asked him.

“Umm… yeah?” he replied, raising a brow.

“Cool. Cool cool cool cool. How’s, uh, how’s she doing?”

“She’s fine. Why?”

“No reason,” Sam said, turning away from him. Her face mirrored yours: barely suppressed laughter threatening to burst out.

But after a moment, you couldn’t take it any more. A giggle slipped out of you, immediately followed by a flood of laughter spilling out of both of you. Chris’ eyes narrowed, “What?”

You tried to wave him off but you couldn’t breath. “Nothing,” Sam gasped, “It’s nothing.”

“Am I missing the joke?”

You shook your head violently, tears coming out of your eyes; the more upset he got, the funnier it was. After a while, though, you were able to breath again. “It’s really nothing, Chris,” you said, wiping your eyes, “Just something Sam and I were talking about earlier.”

He nodded slowly, obviously still suspicious, before walking away with Josh.

“That was terrible,” you said, voice still heavy with amusement.

After you had both calmed down completely, you and Sam joined Ashley on the stairs. “The door’s still locked?” you whined.

“Josh said it was iced,” Ashley told you. “They went to find another way in.”

Sam stooped over to looked at the handle, “This is just perfect.”

“WOOooOOooooOOO!”

Ashley gasped at the sudden noise as the three of you jumped back from door. “What the heck?” you yelled.

Sam rolled her eyes and leaned toward the window, “Hi Chris, very funny.”

“Aww, how’d you know it was me?” Chris said, his face appearing on the other side of the window. Oh, you were gonna kill him.

“Shouldn’t you be, like, getting the lock open or something?” Sam told him.

“On it.”

With that, he walked out of view into the darkness of the house. “What an ass,” you said, clutching your still racing heart.

“He’s not that bad,” Ashley told you. You smirked at Sam, but she was looking at Matt instead. The poor guy was still standing down the path, stomping in place to warm up.

“Hey Matt, you okay?” she called. He looked over and nodded in reply, but refused to join you guys on near the lodge. “God, he just looks so miserable.”

“Can you blame him?” Ash said. “I mean, he saw Emily and Mike together.”

“What?” you asked, shocked.

“Through the telescope. They weren’t really doing anything, but you know how Mike is. I saw them first, maybe I shouldn’t have let him look.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” you said. “He said he was done with Em. Not to mention how excited he was to be with Jess this weekend.”

“Maybe you didn’t get the whole story,” Sam told Ashley.

“Yeah… maybe,” she said.

Turning back to look at Matt, you could feel your stomach sinking. It wouldn’t be the first time Mike had thoroughly screwed something up, but it just didn’t add up. It was certainly something Emily would do though; she had been so angry after Michael had broken up with her, not to mention you sort of had a feeling that she was just dating Matt to get back at him. You decided you’d have to talk to Mike personally when he made it up to the lodge.

“Ugh, how long is this going to take?” Ashley complained. “We’re freezing our buns off out here!”

As if on cue, Chris appeared on the other side of the door and, using the lighter and deodorant he had in hand as a makeshift flamethrower, he heated up the lock and then opened it. “Thank you, thank you thank you, I’ll be here all week-”

Suddenly, a small blur of fur launched itself out of the door from where Chris was standing and you barely managed to jump out of the way. Your only warning had been the high pitched yelp Chris had made in fear. “Jeez, ugh! Crap that thing freaked me out.”

“What was it? Are you okay?” Ashley asked, giggling.

“It was like, a bear or a tiger or something-”

“A tiger?” you asked incredulously between gasps of laughter.

“Aw it was just a cute little baby wolverine,” Sam teased and you snickered.

“Baby?” Chris asked, embarrassed.

“Don’t worry buddy, you’re gonna be a big boy soon,” Josh said, appearing suddenly.

Chris glared at him and you all laughed. This. This is what you missed; just dicking around with your friends and enjoying yourself.


	4. Part 3

The six of you finally headed into the lodge. It wasn’t exactly warm, you observed as you shrugged off your backpack, but at least it was out of the wind. “Home sweet home,” Josh said, holding his arms out as if to welcome the place back into his life.

“Sweet is not the word I’d use,” Matt replied, setting Emily’s bags down by the door.

“Oh my gosh it’s so good to be inside. Even if it’s still kind of freezing in here,” Ashley said.

“I’ll get a fire going,” Josh told her.

“Aw we don’t need a fire, right Ash?” you said loudly, swinging an arm around her shoulder. “We can just all huddle together and use our body heat! Just like they did in the olden days.”

“I’m pretty sure they had fire in the olden days,” Sam told you, and the two of you laughed.

“This place barely looks any different,” Matt said.

“Yeah, nobody’s been up here,” Josh told him from the hearth.

“Even with all the police coming in and out?” Ashley asked.

“Not a lot of action up here lately,” Chris said, and you shuddered. Somehow the conversation always came back to this.

The somber mood didn’t last long though as Mike burst into the room, “What’s up party people!”

“Heyyy,” Jessica yelled from behind him.

Josh grinned at the appearance of your friends, “Hey, make yourself at home, bro!”

“Will do!” Mike told him cheerily before waving at you.

You stood up to talk to him, but before you had taken even one step away from the couch where you had been sitting, Matt spoke up, “Yeah. Come on in. Take a load off, have whatever you want. You just take whatever you want anyways, right?”

“Woah, easy there, cowboy” Mike told him, obviously confused by the cold shoulder. By now, the entire room was staring at them, watching whatever it was unfold.

“What the hell were you doing with Em out on the trail?”

“What?”

“I saw you and Em. Through the telescope.”

“Before? We just ran into each other. It’d been a while, so we hugged and I said hello. Is that against the law?” Mike explained. You could tell he was telling the truth (he wasn’t particularly good at lying) but did he really have to be so goddamn sassy about it? Really? Matt was going to punch him in the fucking jaw.

To your relief though, Matt backed off. “Right… yeah. Duh. Sorry, it’s been kind of a long day. I overreacted.”

“Nah, man, don’t worry about it,” Mike told him.

“We cool?”

“Yeah, yeah. Totally.”

Glad that that whole ordeal seemed to be over, Mike turned away from Matt and you nodded your head to call him over to you.

“Hey, what’s up?” he asked.

“You can’t stay away from trouble for the life of you, huh?” you said, smirking at him. “I leave you alone for less than an hour and you’ve already managed to piss someone off.”

He didn’t smile at your teasing though. If there was one thing that you really liked about your best friend Michael Munroe, it was that he genuinely tried to please everybody. “Yeah, I guess. It’s not like I was trying to, though.”

“Well, what are you gonna do. I mean, if you pack a bunch of teenagers onto a mountain, there’s bound to be some drama, right?” you told him.

He nodded before leaving you and sitting down next to his girlfriend. The two immediately huddled close and you smiled. Mike had been going through a kind of rough time before he had finally ditched Emily and moved on to Jessica. You remembered a lot of long nights over the past year where he would text you in a panic, freaking out about what had happened with the twins. It was his most vulnerable side, and one you were sure you only got to see because of how long you had known him. You knew he could count on one hand the number of people he had cried in front of, and you were glad that you were among them.

“Oh my god, that is so gross. Are you trying to swallow his face whole?”

Aaaand there was the drama you were talking about earlier. Jessica stood up, not really one to resist a fight, and the two were soon shouting at each other. Mike refused to get involved, sitting awkwardly on the couch behind his screaming girlfriend, whereas Matt was immediately at Emily’s side trying to diffuse the situation.

“Emily stop! This is out of hand, there’s no reason to fight like this!” her boyfriend eventually cried out.

“Yeah Em! Why you pickin’ fights over your ex boyfriend, huh?” Jessica demanded, making a valid point. It only added to your theory that Em wasn’t quite as over their breakup as she liked to make it seem.

“Stop it!” Josh yelled in frustration. “This is not why we came up here. This is not… helping. It’s not what I wanted. If we can’t get along for ten minutes then maybe we need a little bit of a break, right?” Jessica and Matt at least had the decency to look guilty at Josh’s pleas, but Emily just folded her arms and rolled her eyes. “Mike, why don’t you check out the guest cabin, the one I told you about.”

“Yeah… yeah alright,” Mike said, pulling Jessica with him to the door. He bumped fists with you as he passed by, a silent farewell and an unspoken “good luck.”

When they had left, Matt sighed. “Glad that’s over,” he said, and Josh agreed.

You walked towards Ashley, Sam, and Chris as Emily started freaking out over a bag she was missing. “So, that was something,” you said.

“Yeah,” Ashley laughed nervously. “I don’t know what Mike thought he was doing. It seems like he’ll do anything to get in people’s pants.”

“Hey,” you admonished, feeling uncomfortable at her attitude towards your friend, especially since it was behind his back. “He wasn’t doing anything. His heart’s set on Jessica this weekend. It’s not his fault that Em is so hellbent on making this terrible for everyone involved.” You said your words quietly enough that Emily couldn’t hear them, lest you be dragged into the center of the drama yourself.

Ashley blushed a little at your scolding, but nodded in agreement, “You’re right, sorry.”

“We’re all friend here,” Sam said calmly, patting her on the arm and you smiled at her. “Okay, I’m gonna go take a bath.”

“Hey Cochise!” Josh called and Chris snapped to attention. “I gotta run these keys out to Mike and Jess, mind getting the fire going?”

Chris seemed apprehensive, “I dunno, man. I can try.”

“C’mon, bro! If you can melt a frozen lock with a can of deodorant, you can start a fire in a fire pit!”

Chris nodded and squatted down by the hearth as Josh headed outside. “Fuck, it’s cold,” you complained, rubbing your hands together.

Chris struck a match and tried to get the kindling to catch, but to all of your despair, it blew out before it could. “Goddammit,” he swore and threw the now useless match into the back of the fireplace. He tried again, to no avail. “Light, you dumb fire!”

Josh laughed from behind you, having come back from outside, “Having a little trouble, buddy?”

“Umm, yeah,” Chris said. “Sorry bro.”

“No problem. You know, Sam can probably light a fire, she used to go camping all the time,” Josh thought out loud.

“Yeah, uh, probably,” Chris mumbled, obviously embarrassed that he couldn’t.

“Sammy!”

“What?” Sam called from upstairs.

“You wanna help me get this fire going?” Josh asked loudly.

“Ummmm, well, I was just getting into the bath-”

“Oh!” Josh yelled back, smirking widely. “And do you need any help with that?”

Sam only laughed in response, and Josh went back to trying to get the fire lit.

“Oh c’mon,” you said impatiently, “It’s fucking freezing in here, Josh, hurry up!”

“How long do you think this will take him?” Chris asked you and Ashley.

“My money’s on blankets for everyone,” Ashley said.

You put on a wicked grin, “Oh, you and Chris don’t need blankets to get warm!” When the pair immediately flushed a deep red and turned away from each other, you laughed.

Shaking out of his embarrassment, Chris focused on Josh, “You think you got it, bro?”

“Yeah, yeah. I mean, it’s not like I’ve never lit a fire before…”

“You can do it, man. We believe in you!” Chris told him.

“Yeah, totally! Woohoo!” Ashley said. The two of you locked eyes and sang out at the same time, “Let’s go Jo-osh, let’s go!” before collapsing in a fit of giggles.

After what seemed like forever, the kindling finally took to flame and the four of you cheered. You put your ice cold hands up to the fire, sighing at the warmth. After a couple minutes of silence, Josh got an idea.

“Okay, well I’m pretty sure somewhere in this crazy place, we used to have a spirit board.”

Ashley looked skeptical, whereas you and Chris just rolled your eyes. “A what?” Ashley asked.

“Wow, you have a spirit board?” Chris said, putting on an air of excitement.

“Yeah, yeah, they’re fun right?”

“Wait, are you saying we should have a seance?” Ash asked.

“What, are you scared?” Chris said, creeping his fingers on her arm like a spider. Then he turned to Josh, “Those things are a joke, man. They don’t do shit. Right?” he asked, facing you.

“Well, maybe, but…,” you replied, putting your hands up, “You don’t wanna piss off spirits, even if they’re just bullshit spirits.”

“It’s not bullshit,” Josh said indignantly, and when Chris gave him a look of doubt, added, “It’s not! We used to do it all the time. Me and… well-”

“Hey, Josh, no hot water’s kind of a major oversight, doncha think?” Sam said, finally joining the four of you.

“I mean, it’s not like he bothered to turn on the heat. It’s not that far fetched,” you told her.

“Relax,” he laughed. “You just gotta fire up the boiler, it’s in the basement.” He then told Chris and Ashley to find the spirit board and made to take Sam downstairs.

You cleared your throat and he turned to you, “Well, what am I supposed to do? Just sit here?”

“Yeah, just wait and see if Matt and Em come back,” he told you and you huffed.

“Great.”

But you weren’t really one for sitting around, and after a few seconds to yourself, you headed up the stairs of the lodge. There wasn’t much to do on the second story, most of the rooms were locked tight to keep any guest from messing things up. You weren’t really expecting any access to them, so when one of the doors you tried swung open, you jumped back.

Looking around, you quickly realized where you were. You had been wandering without purpose, but you had somehow ended up outside of Beth’s room. Part of you wanted to turn and run. You knew nothing could prepare you for seeing all of her things, untouched, just as she had left them a year ago.

But this weekend was about facing ghosts head on. You timidly stepped across the threshold into the room. Your breath left you quickly and your eyes welled with bitter tears. The room almost made it seem like she wasn’t gone, like Beth could walk through the door and yell at you for coming in without her permission, just like she used to.

Her band posters were still hung up, most of them of artists that you had since stopped listening to. The two of you were pretty close, and you used to rock out to her music on the car rides home from school. Now you couldn’t hear the tunes without them bringing back memories of her. Memories you could never have more of.

One poster in particular, though, had fallen off of the wall by the window. It lay there, half curled up and covered in a layer of dust. You approached it, knowing Beth would want it hung up. But when you picked it up, the words on it shocked you. You hadn’t ever liked this band, and therefore had never seen this particular album art. Red letters glared at you from the face of the poster: THE PAST IS BEYOND OUR CONTROL.

Just then, you heard Ashley calling your name from out in the hallway. You quickly stuck the poster back on the wall where it had been before and headed out, “Coming!”

“There you are,” Ash said when you found her. You were puzzled, though, to find that Chris was not with her. “He went to look in the basement,” she explained.

“Gotcha. Need help looking up here?” you offered.

“Yeah, that’d be great,” she sighed in relief. “This place is pretty creepy in the dark.”

“Especially when looking for a spirit board.”

She laughed in agreement and the two of you searched for it. After a couple of minutes, though, you sighed in defeat. “There’s no way it’s up here,” you said. “We’ve looked all over the place.” Ashley nodded and the two of you headed back downstairs.

“Holy crap, you were scared. Admit it-”

“I was not!”

“Come on, you totally pissed yourself!”

Sam and Josh were fighting when they came back up from the basement with Chris in tow. It was obvious that you had missed something, between Sam’s sour mood and Chris’… outfit?

“What in god’s name are you wearing?” Ashley asked him, gesturing at the monk robes.

“I found my true calling,” he told her. You smiled at their teasing; they really were cute together. Chris pulled the spirit board out of his robes and Josh grinned.

“You know what? You know what? No!” Sam said, shaking her head. “I’ve just been through enough spooking for one night, okay? I see a hot bath in my crystal ball, alright? So have fun!” and with that she walked back up the stairs to the bathroom.

“How about you?” Josh asked you. “Are you gonna join us?”

You shook your head, “I already told you, I know better than to piss the bullshit ghosts off! I am going to go get something to eat, I’m starving!”

“Food’s in the kitchen, you big baby,” Josh teased, and you flipped him off before heading into the kitchen.


	5. Part 4

You walked into the kitchen and looked over what you had to work with; opening the fridge immediately revealed that something was missing. “Josh!” you whined.

“What?”

“Where’s the alcohol?”

He popped his head into the kitchen, “What?”

“Where’s the beer?” you asked again.

“Oh, well, I didn’t bring any,” he told you grinning.

“You didn’t bring any?” you asked and he nodded. “Why didn’t you bring any beer?”

“Oh, come on. It’s not that big a deal, I think you can go one weekend without getting shitfaced,” he said. “Besides, I want us all to remember this weekend.”

You groaned, but there was nothing to be done about it. He left and you went back to making a sandwich and a _virgin_ water. “No alcohol,” you grumbled, “No heat. No electricity. What’s next? Is he gonna get rid of the food? Are we going to have to eat each other?”

You finished preparing your sandwich despite your grumpiness, and had just pulled out a knife to cut up an apple when you heard yelling from upstairs.

“I don’t need this right now, okay?!! You guys are full of it!”

You recognized Josh’s voice and scrunched your eyebrows in worry. Heavy footsteps thundered down the staircase and you put your apple down to investigate. You exited the kitchen just in time to see Josh storm out of the foyer. Glancing from the door he had disappeared through to the stairs, you called out, “Guys?”

When no one answered, you crept up to the second story, knife still in hand. Chris and Ashley were deep in conversation when you made it to the top, but jumped to attention when you made your presence known, “Hey, what’s going on?”

“Umm, that’s a really good question,” Chris told you, laughing nervously. Next to him, Ashley looked as if she had seen a ghost. “We were messing around on the spirit board and things got really weird really quickly.”

You groaned and put your hand to your forehead, “I told you not to mess with the bullshit spirits-”

“They weren’t bullshit!” Ashley cried. “It was Hannah!”

The blood drained from your face at that statement, and you were quiet when you asked, “What?”

“Oh my god, it was Hannah, and she… she was telling us how she died and-”

You shook your head, confused, “Wait what? So who was moving the pointer?”

Chris spoke up this time, “We don’t know. I mean, it wasn’t me, and Ash says it wasn’t her-”

“It was Hannah!” Ashley said indignantly. “You weren’t there, it was actually Hannah!”

“Ash, calm down,” you said gently. “Josh. Could he have…”

“Do you really think he’d pretend to be Hannah?” Chris said. “And besides, you saw how upset he was.”

You nodded and put your hesitations aside for the moment, “Okay… well, um, did the “spirit” say anything else?”

“We need to go to the library,” Ashley said, still riled up.

“Huh?”

“It said there was some sort of proof in the library,” Chris explained with a shrug. “I don’t really know what’s going on either.”

You nodded and rubbed your arms. The three of you headed down to the library, talking quietly about what had happened at the seance and with Josh. You stopped when you saw light leaking out of a grate on the floor; it wasn’t the same quality of light as the candle Ashley was holding.

“Electricity?” you wondered aloud, pointing at the source for the others to see. Ashley squatted down and lifted it up, peering inside, though she could only see vague shadows.

“But the power’s not even on,” Chris said.

“Weird.”

Ashley reached out and grabbed Chris's’ arm, gently tugging him near her in her fright. Though the sight was cute, you couldn’t help but feel vulnerable with no one to cling to yourself. You really wished Mike was with you.

You put on a brave face and walked forward into the library, your two friends lagging behind you. The room was just as empty and dark as the rest of the house and your hair stood on end with anticipation as you looked around for whatever “proof” the ghost had been talking about.

Chris was moving to inspect one of the bookcases on the wall when books started flying off of said shelves. The three of you jumped and yelled, startled by the impossible event.

“Jesus!”

“Holy crap!”

“Why the fuck?!”

You hunched over and breathed, trying to reign your adrenaline back in a little. “Are you okay,” Chris asked you and Ashley.

“I think so,” Ashley offered, and you nodded in agreement. “Look! There was something behind the books!”

“Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me,” you said in disbelief.

Chris looked closer, “Is it a button?”

“Why would there be a button?” Ashley asked hysterically.

“That’s a good question.”

“Should I push it?” she asked.

“That’s what buttons are for, I guess,” Chris said at the same time you cried out, “No!”

The two looked at you in shock. “Are you guys serious? You’d be the first ones to die in a horror movie, I swear.”

Undeterred, Ashley turned back to the button and gently pushed it. When the bookcase swung open to reveal a hidden doorway, she gasped. “Are we in a movie right now?” looking to you.

You, however, were just as shocked as her at the revelation of the secret room, so only Chris responded, “If we are, I hope it’s a romcom.”

You backed up as Chris and Ashley kept talking and collapsed into a chair; this was getting a little too real for you. You hadn’t even been part of the seance, yet here you were, dealing with the repercussions of it. _Please don’t let there be anything in there_ , you prayed silently.

“Look at this.” Chris had stepped inside the hidden room and come out with a small piece of paper. Your heart dropped.

“What? Chris, what is that?!” Ashley’s voice was even more high pitched than usual.

“I-I think this might be what the spirit board wanted us to find,” he replied, laughing in disbelief.

Your eyes widened and you stood to look at the message with Ashley.

I WILL TAKE THEM AND BLEED THEM LIKE PIGS AND RIP THEIR SOFT WHITE SKIN OFF! FUCKING 16 YEARS. 16 YEARS I WAITED FOR PRETTY LITTLE HANNAH AND BETH.

The writing reminded you of the graffiti you had encountered down at the base of the mountain and you felt bile rising in your throat.

“It’s a threat,” he explained.

“Chris, this is serious. We need to find Josh RIGHT NOW,” Ashley squeaked.

You walked behind the pair silently as they left to find Josh, lost in thought. You weren’t sure what to make of it all. You had spent the entirety of the past year building up a wall, trying to accept that the twins, _your friends_ , were gone, and that that was that. And now…

And now you had no idea what to do. Did this mean they were murdered? You had come to be at peace with the idea that if Hannah and Beth were dead, they had probably frozen to death. You’d done research in the months that followed the accident on what could have happened to them and how they could have possibly died. Your favorite theory by far was hypothermia. Freezing to death was peaceful, once the shivering stopped it was just like falling asleep; or, at least, that’s what you had read on the internet. If you had to face your friend’s mysterious deaths, you were going to allow yourself to believe that they passed with the least pain possible.

But the note made it almost obvious that their death had not been as merciful as you’d hoped. Despair that you hadn’t felt since this time last year grew inside of you, like an old wound.

You noted a door on your left, as you walked through the house, that lead outside. Chris tried to open it, thinking that maybe Josh had run outside ( ~~his family had a tendency to do so~~ ), but it was locked. You looked out the window and noted the lack of footprints before mentioning that to him. It wasn’t snowing much, the air was too cold and dry at the moment, so there was no risk of them being covered.

“So, um, I was just thinking about something I saw earlier with Sam,” Chris said at last. He stopped, and you, still lost in thought, ran right into his back.

“What?” Ashley asked him.

“There was, like, this wanted poster. Like, full on western style, you know? And Sam really felt like there was someone following her around.”

“So… so what? You’re saying there’s some _criminal_ up on the mountain with us?” Ashley asked, eyes wide.

“There was a message on this answering machine I found. And it… it was from this sergeant saying there was this guy who had just got out of prison… and there was nothing he could do…” his words came out as if even he didn’t want to hear what he was saying.

Ashley was verging on a full on panic, “What do you mean?”

“He was saying it like… like a warning. I mean, maybe that’s whoever was down in the basement before.”

“What?!”

“Under the floorboards in the library. The light,” Chris said.

You finally found your voice, “You think he’s in the house with us?!”

“Well, there was that guy I told you about,” he said, gesturing to Ashley. At both of your confusion, he clarified, “The guy who threatened the Washingtons. I mean, he said he wanted to take revenge by burning the whole place down. And I found that crazy psycho letter?”

“Chris, if this is your way of trying to make me feel better, you’re fired!” Ashley yelled. Looking at her, you could assume that her face probably mirrored your own: an expression of horror. It was almost too much to know that this had all happened to Hannah and Beth, but now Chris was trying to tell you this maniac was after you too?

Just then, the doors into the kitchen, which you could have sworn you left open, started rattling on their hinges. Someone was trying to get through them. From the other side of the doors, you heard panicked noises.

Ashley looked to you and Chris, not knowing what to do. “That was Josh!” she cried, running to open the doors. “Josh!”

You watched in terror as Ashley was yanked through the doorway by something unknown. Chris was quick to move as soon as the doors slammed, yanking the door knob frantically and yelling her name. But you were stuck in place. It felt as though your feet wouldn’t move.

“Let me in!” Chris yelled at the locked door. The two of you could hear Ashley struggling against whatever had her captive, but the grunting she was making was getting weaker. Chris rammed his shoulder against the wood. “I’m. Gonna. Arrgh!” He fell onto the floor and out of sight as the door finally gave way.

You heard a few disturbing thuds and a quiet “Ashley?” that you could tell came from Chris. Then he groaned and one last thud could be heard.

“Chris?” you asked, your voice barely above a whisper. Your heart felt like it was going to beat right out of your chest.

A figure wearing overalls and a horrifying mask stepped into the doorway and you let out a scream.


	6. Part 5

For a moment, everything seemed like it was in slow motion. Your mind was watching the masked man approach you as if through molasses as you continued to scream.

You held your knife up, glad that you had brought it with you, as you backed up slowly.

You stumbled and fell on your butt. As you desperately crawled backwards away from him, he stopped and tilted his head. He said your name, his voice metallic and crackly through a voice changer. His tone had a taunting air to it.

You could see over his shoulder, through the now open doors into the kitchen. You let out another scream of terror when you realized you could see both Ashley and Chris on the floor. Neither were moving. “Oh my god, what did you do to them?!” you demanded, tears building up in your eyes. He laughed, and the sound made your skin crawl.

Finally, you scrambled to your feet and ran. He followed you, his pace leisurely, as you looked around desperately for a place to go. “Oh my god, please!” you cried out when you glanced over your shoulder and saw him only a few feet behind you.

You turned a corner and saw the door you had run into before, the one that led outside. You ran up to it and tried the doorknob, even though you knew it was locked. “Oh come on!” you whined. “How is this happening?” You stood there, grasping the handle for a moment before realizing that if you didn’t move, you would be in very real danger.

Bracing yourself, you rammed your shoulder against the door, but it didn’t budge. You could hear the stranger’s footsteps behind you now, slow and menacing. He said your name again, and you let out a sob you hadn’t realized you were holding in. How was this real? This couldn’t be real? You tried bashing the door open again, and then again after that, the masked man growing nearer to with every passing second.

“Get away from me!” you yelled and slashed at him with your kitchen knife. The metal sliced into his arm, and he yelled out in anger and stumbled backwards.

Finally, with one last shove, the door flew open and you collapsed into the snow. It bit at your bare skin, but you barely registered the pain in your panic. You groaned and struggled to get back to your feet.

“Stop,” he told you, as if in warning. He reached out his hand and grabbed your wrist, but you shook out of his grasp and sprinted into the forest. You felt slightly safer under the cover of trees, but when you paused to catch your breath, you could see that he was still following you, with a little more desperation on his part now.

You ran as fast as you could, though the snow piled on the ground and the lack of a path made it difficult. Your feet thudded against the ground, moving faster than they had ever in your life.

The ground was sloping up, and it wore you out faster than you hoped. You could hear the maniac shouting your name, the teasing tone back in his voice once more.

“Please,” you chanted quietly, coming to a stop, “please please please please.” You couldn’t run anymore. You had no idea where you were; when you were running, getting away was your only priority, but now you had no idea how to get help.

So you kept walking away from where you knew the danger to be, trudging through the snow that was nearly knee-deep in some areas, until you couldn’t hear him calling out for you anymore.

Your arms were bare, since you hadn’t exactly had time to grab your coat when you were running from the maniac. You didn’t have gloves, or even a sweater, and your boots were already soaking through. Running had kept you warm, and the adrenaline had kept you from noticing the freezing wind, but now, as the cold set in, the sweat on your skin from the spent energy was only succeeding in chilling you further.

The snow crunched quietly under your boots as even more white fell from the sky. It might have even been peaceful, if there hadn’t been a masked killer after you. The mountain was beautiful, after all.

Your heart had just stopped racing when you heard something screeching in the distant woods. You stopped in your tracks, your head whipping to face the direction the sound had come from.

“The fuck was that?” you mumbled to yourself. It hadn’t sounded like any animal you could think of. Though it hadn’t been close, it had been loud enough to worry you, and you kept walking, urgency in your step once again.

You were losing heat quickly. Your fingers, which were still clasped around the knife, were numb, and it surprised you that they still worked at all. Your skin, especially on your arms, was bright red, having no defense to the frozen air around them. For a while now, your teeth had been chattering, and your body shaking. The shivering was almost as tiring as running away had been, and it was growing more violent by the second.

But you pressed on.

It was when the shivering stopped that you recognized how much danger you were actually in. You had failed to recognize any of the other signs, or maybe you had been in denial with yourself, but you could hardly ignore this one.

You had done a lot of research on hypothermia.

_Freezing to death was peaceful. Once the shivering stopped it was just like falling asleep._

Were you freezing to death? The thought stopped you in your tracks, and you leaned against a tree. Surely you hadn’t been outside that long. But your mind was foggy and you couldn’t even begin to guess how much time had actually passed.

With a great deal of effort, you pushed your tired, frigid body off of the tree and moved your feet out in front of you.

The ground was sloping down, now, and your whole body rocked lazily with each large step you took. You shook back and forth like a tree about to fall over. The momentum was carrying you down the hill, faster and faster; maybe if you kept going, you could get yourself out of this mess.

You didn’t notice the log under the snow until you were already tripping over it.

Your head rolled over your heels, down the slope until you hit your head against something hard and then… 

And then there was only darkness.


	7. Part 6

“Oh Mike, thank god you found me.”

“It’s okay. You’re okay.”

Sam shook her head in confusion, getting as close to Mike as she could, “I don’t understand… How did you get here? How did you find me?”

He shuddered, “There’s some fucking maniac up here on the mountain-”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed.” It was nice to finally see a friendly face after what she had just been through, after what she had just seen…

“He lives in this, like, web of tunnels… I was down there, trying to get out and then I found this grate and I saw you.”

It was then that Sam noticed that Mike was alone. “Where… where’s Jessica? She’s not with you?”

The question hurt. He couldn’t bring himself to look at Sam for a moment, but when he did, his heart looked broken. “Jessica is dead,” he told her, weakly.

“What?” Sam exclaimed in a quiet, high-pitched whisper. Her eyes were wide with horror.

“He killed her, Sam. He’s trying to kill us. All of us,” his eyes were full of tears and his voice wavered, but the sadness quickly turned into anger. “And I swear to god, when everyone is safe and accounted for I am gonna hunt that fucker down and rip his nuts off, one at a goddamn time.”

“Listen, this guy that you’re talking about… he attacked me. He showed me these videos, too, and one of them showed Josh being killed… just… ripped apart by this huge fucking sawblade…”

“Jesus Christ!” he said, feeling very faint all of a sudden. “He killed Josh too!?”

“Yes,” she said, choking on the word.

“What about everyone else, huh?” Mike asked, grasping for some kind of hope. “What about… what about Emily and Matt, a-and Chris and Ashley?”

“I don’t know,” Sam told him, but she didn’t sound very optimistic. “Last time I saw them, Chris and Ashley were with Josh.”

He was almost afraid to ask about you, too worried that the news might be bad. He wasn’t sure if he could take that. “Well, how about-”

“Mike, I haven’t seen any of them for hours.”

His heart fell. If you were hurt… he didn’t know what he would do. You hadn’t even really wanted to come on this trip in the first place, but Mike had spent days convincing you. He never learned his goddamn lesson: he had to listen to you. This was his fault.

“If he’s done something to her…” he trailed off, knowing Sam knew exactly who he was talking about. “If she’s dead, I’m gonna kill him.” His voice was strong, though it did waver.

Jessica was dead, that he knew. And Sam seemed convinced that Josh was gone, as well. But the others… maybe they could get out of this alive. Maybe he could save them. Maybe he could save you.

He would fight for you.

Sam, who had been silent while he thought, finally spoke up, her voice uncertain, “Mike, I think…. somehow, Josh is involved in all of this.”

“Wait, what? How?”

“I’m really not sure, but… there was a message from his doctor… and it mentioned a plan that was, like, a bad idea, and now he’s dead!” He realized suddenly, as she struggled to speak, that she was in as much anguish over Josh as he was over Jessica.

“What the fuck is going on around here?” he groaned in frustration. He felt like he was missing something, something big. But now was not the time to worry about it, the others could be in danger.

He locked eyes with Sam, seeing his steely determination reflected in hers, “There’s a door here, it won’t open. Can you unlock it from your side?” Sam nodded and stood before disappearing behind a door in the room she was in.

It didn’t take long before he heard her fumbling around with the locked door. He braced himself just in case it wasn’t her, but when she opened the door and smiled at him, he relaxed. “Hey…” Mike smiled, glad to see her.

“Jeez, you look like hell,” she said, wincing. She didn’t look much better.

“Nice to see you too.” She looked him over, her gaze settling on his left hand before her eyes shot back to his face with shock.

“Oh my god, your fingers, Mike!”

Oh yeah, he had gotten them stuck in that stupid trap. He had tried desperately to open it, but when the machete broke the first time, he had given up. The situation was too dire to wait around for other options, so he had chopped them off. Despite the pain, it hadn’t really registered that he only had eight fingers now. He kept forgetting and was surprised each time he saw his hand out of the corner of his eye.

“Yeah,” he said bluntly. “Yeah, there was a trap, and… yeah.”

She looked at him for a few more seconds, disbelief and pity heavy in her gaze, but they both knew that now was not the time for it.

She changed out of the dirty towel she had wrapped around her and into an outfit she had stored in her backpack. When she finished, the pair headed out of the room as quietly as possible.

“Please!”

“I can’t! I can’t decide!”

Sam looked to Mike and bit her lip, wearing a look of intense worry. “What was that?” she asked quietly.

Mike was just as confused, “Is that… crying?” They approached the door opposite from the room they had just been in where the sounds were coming from. Mike put his shoulder against the metal and waved Sam over, and together they pushed the door open.

As they stumbled into the room, the first thing Mike registered was how dark it was. He winced as a spotlight switched on, illuminating a table in the center of the room. Chris and Ashley were tied up to the chairs, both looking around with shock and confusion.

“No! No no no! Get away!” Ashley cried out frantically, and Mike turned his attention to the dark figure walking towards her and Chris. Chris fired the gun he was holding multiple times, causing everyone in the room to jump along with each shot. The masked maniac just laughed, untouched.

At Chris’ confusion, the man explained that the gun was filled with blanks, obviously teasing him. Mike and Sam watched silently, unable to move any closer to the scene unraveling before them.

And then their world broke.

It was Josh behind the mask, grinning at them with a look of satisfaction.

“Josh?” Chris said, his voice thick with confusion.

“Josh!” Sam cried out as well, as Josh started laughing.

It only took a few seconds for Mike to realize, at least in part, what was happening. His face hardened and he grit his teeth, “Josh-”

“Oh, oh very good! Every one of you! You got my name! And after all you’ve been through! Good, good good good good.”

Mike and Sam rushed to the table to free Chris and Ashley as Josh continued talking. Sam and Chris looked mostly confused, like they were unable to comprehend what Josh was saying, but Ash’s expression seemed to mirror how Mike felt. She was glaring at him, trembling with anger, and Mike couldn’t help but do the same.

Josh’s tone was growing more and more angry by the second, “Do you enjoy feeling terrorized? Humiliated? I mean, panicked? All those emotions that my sisters got to feel once, one year ago! Only guess what? They didn’t get to laugh it off! No! Nope, no no no, they’re gone!”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Josh, but none of us are laughing,” Mike bit out. At this point, he was barely paying attention to what Josh was saying. He was furious; Jessica was dead because this fucker wanted some stupid revenge?! Not to mention the unknown status of the friends that were still missing; if anyone else was dead, Josh would soon join them.

The temporary relief he had felt upon seeing Chris and Ashley alive had been quickly washed out by the realization that you weren’t with them. Guilt was eating away at him; he had left you. He left you to go be with Jess and now Jess was dead and you were missing.

“Hook line and sinker for every little stinker!” Josh yelled out, pulling Mike from his thoughts.

“Josh, why are you doing this?” Sam asked him. His heart went out for her, briefly. She had thought Josh dead, and she had been grieving, but this? This was worse.

His anger returned quickly, though. “Don’t ask this squirrelly little runt. He’s got no clue. He’s out of his fucking tree.”

“Well, he’s definitely of his meds,” Chris said.

Mike wanted to ask where you were, because if anyone knew, it would be Josh, but he was too nervous to single you out. “Where are the others?” he settled on saying.

“Em and Matt went to the cable car station while Ash and I were looking for Sam,” Chris told him.

Mike frowned, “What about-”

“Aw, Mikey is worried about his little pet,” Josh interrupted in a mocking tone. “You still care about her even though you friend zoned her, how adorable! Maybe she got sick of following you around, you dick.”

“Shut up!” Michael yelled, Josh’s words cutting deep into him.

“Oh come on, you guys. Revenge is the best medicine!” Josh laughed somewhat nervously.

“You’re done,” Mike growled.

“Mike, he’s sick,” Chris said, trying to prevent any violence.

Josh then started babbling about his plan to exploit their terror online, his speech getting more and more absurd until, finally, Mike just couldn’t take it anymore.

“What are you talking about you ass hat?!” Mike shouted at him, tears rushing to his eyes once more. “Jessica is fucking dead!”

Josh’s smile broke, “What?”

“Did you hear me? Jessica is dead… and YOU ARE GONNA FUCKING PAY YOU DICK!!!”


	8. Part 7

You were on your back in the snow, staring up at the dark grey sky that peeked out through the trees. You didn’t feel cold anymore. In fact, you didn’t really feel anything, least of all your body. For some reason, you had a feeling that you should be in pain, but that was missing too.

You weren’t sure when you had regained consciousness, if you could even call this consciousness. Every time you blinked, it was a struggle to open your eyes again. Your mind and body were exhausted, screaming at you to give into the sleep pulling at you, but you couldn’t shake the feeling that you needed to stay awake. Given the snow that was piled on top of your body, you had been lying there for quite a while.

From off in the distance, you heard a screech like the one you had heard earlier. Your eyes flickered towards the source, the only part of your body you could bring to move, but you couldn’t see anything that may have made the noise. There was no room in your foggy mind for panic or fear anymore, despite the fact that you knew you were in danger. Your eyes fluttered closed.

You sat there for a time, maybe a minute, maybe ten. Eventually, though, you heaved your numb body off of the ground, powdery snow falling off your torso. As difficult as it was to sit up, it took an even greater amount of effort to get to your feet. You fell a few times and had to start all over, but the important thing was that finally, you were standing on your legs, bracing yourself against a tree.

You were all turned around and had no idea where to go, but the ground was sloping up behind you and you didn’t have the energy to even think about going uphill. So you walked forward, your footsteps slow and swaying. You had to stop every few seconds to lean on a tree for fear of your feet giving out underneath you, so your progress was achingly slow.

Now that you were moving again, your mind was waking up a little. You still couldn’t feel anything, but you could process the danger you were in and something akin to panic was rising in your throat. You needed to get out of the wind and snow soon or you could die.

Time wasn’t passing normally. You would walk for what seemed like hours, but when you paused at the next tree to catch your breath, the footprints behind you only went a few feet back. Then you would move on, but the snow around your feet had deepened significantly despite the fact that you could swear you had only paused for a few seconds. You had no idea what time of night it was when you finally made it out of the forest.

A light was on outside of the building you found yourself in front of, the brightness making your eyes water. The place was creepy to say the least, like something out of a horror movie, but you weren’t really in a position to be picky, so you dragged your feet through the courtyard to the front door. Maybe the masked man from before was inside, but the still dropping temperature scared you more than him. There was a sign above the door that read “No Trespassing.”

To your relief the door was unlocked, and you swung it open and stepped inside. The building was just as creepy inside as it was outside; pieces of rubble were stacked along the side of the room from the crumbled staircases and ceiling and something about the place made you uneasy. The lack of wind was a inviting enough, though, so you kept walking through the foyer until you came to the door of a chapel.

You tried the doorknob, but it was locked up tight, a sign next to it indicating that a key card was needed for access. You sighed and trudged back to where you came from. There was another hallway on the right hand side of the room with a red sign that read “Admin” and you figured that you might as well go that way. You weren’t really sure what you were doing, but wandering around an abandoned sanatorium was certainly better than waiting for hypothermia to take over. Though, maybe not by all that much.

The first room you found yourself in held little more than a few bookshelves and desks lying in shambles. On the opposite wall from where you came in, you could see a small green sign that said “Morgue.”

Despite your situation, you found yourself laughing, though the sound was strained and dry. “Why the hell wouldn’t there be a morgue?” you asked yourself, the words echoing off the cracked walls. Your giggling stopped short, though, as you realized how awful your voice sounded; it was weak and raspy, not like it usually was at all.

You headed away from the morgue, hoping not to tempt fate, but the adjacent hallway only led to a dead end. The brief entertainment that you had gotten from how completely awful your situation was had vanished. You walked down the hall to the morgue, dread piling in your stomach.

It was when you came to a flight of stairs that you realized you had a problem. There were a few stairs in front of the sanatorium that you had struggled to get up; there had only been about five of them, but it felt like you had climbed a mountain. These ones went down, and there were a lot more of them. You weren’t sure if you trusted yourself enough to not accidentally kill yourself on them.

You eased yourself on to the ground, sliding down the first few stairs on your butt. It was slow, but you were making progress and had made it down onto the first landing with no problem. Gaining confidence, you stood up and tried the second flight on your feet, but as soon as you put your weight on the first step, your leg gave out beneath you and you rolled down in a painful blur of motion. When the stairs ended, you landed on your stomach, winded. Your forehead stung and when you tentatively pulled your inspecting hand away from it, it was bloody. You cursed and pushed yourself to your feet.

At least you could feel your body again, you realized, though the aching pain almost made you miss the numbness.

You wandered down the hall and turned into a new room. This one was full of hospital beds and even more rubble, but nothing caught your eye as important and so you kept walking.

You didn’t stop again until a strange smell hit your nose. You paused, leaning on the dirty wallpaper, trying to identify the odor; it was familiar, kind of like metal only stronger and….

You paled when you placed the smell. Blood. There had been death and pain in this place, that much was obvious to you as soon as you had entered the building. But if you could smell blood, then it was recent; the thought was terrifying.

You squashed your fear down as much as you could as you continued on. Your footsteps seemed louder than ever as you cautiously entered yet another room, though your heart beat was almost drowning it out.

“Holy shit,” you whispered, the color draining from your face once again. In the middle of the room, surrounded by puddles of blood, was a bear trap with something caught inside. Curiosity got the better of you and you approached it to see just what exactly it was, though you regretted it immediately. Two gory fingers were lodged inside the metal teeth of the trap. You backed away from it, feeling the bile rising in your throat, when you felt something squish beneath your boot. You screamed when you realized it was a decaying hand that you had stepped on, and with energy you didn’t know you had, ran from the room, straight into the morgue.

You weren’t sure if this room was any better, though on inspection you could see that at least there wasn’t a threat of stepping on more severed body parts. They were all on the trays, or in jars on the shelves.

You swallowed your disgust and wandered in. When you were met with another door that required a key card, you groaned. You had to find one, or you’d be stuck in this place.

You had to go back where you’d come from and search the entire area once more, a feat you were surprised you managed in your state, but your effort payed off. Before long, you were opening the main chapel door, hearing a satisfying click as the key card unlocked it.

The chapel was much warmer than the rest of the sanatorium, and you shivered at the change in temperature. It looked like someone had been living in it, though why anyone would desire to live in such a creepy old place, you didn’t know.

You had barely started looking the place over when you heard the door on the opposite end of the room open. Your heart leaped into your throat and you whipped your head in the direction of the sound, only to be met with a sight you weren’t expecting.

“Mike?”


	9. Part 8

It was Mike.

He was covered in dirt and bruises and dried blood and he was wearing some green jacket that you knew for a fact he didn’t own.

But it was Mike.

You didn’t waste any time before running straight to him, though it was more of a hobble in your weakened state, barreling into his open and waiting arms. Suddenly, everything was okay. You weren’t going to die alone on this mountain, you weren’t going to be stuck here forever, you weren’t going to have to regret that your last words to him were so trivial. Mike was in your arms and everything was going to be okay.

When you finally pulled your face out of the crook of his neck where you had buried it and looked at his face, it blew you away. He was looking at you like it was the first time he’d seen sunlight after days of darkness. He was shaking beneath you, though you were pretty sure you were too, and you could see the wear and tear the night had had on him, but if there was ever a time when he had been more beautiful, you couldn’t recall it.

“Y-you have n-no idea how glad I am to see you,” you said, grinning while tears rushed to your eyes. Your grip on him was still tight, as if you were afraid that he would disappear if you let go.

He laughed, and the sound was pure music to your ears. “I think I have some idea,” he said sniffling, before burying his head into your neck and squeezing you even tighter. “Are you okay?”

You shivered as his hot breath tickled your neck, reminding you how cold you were; in your excitement, you had forgotten. “I’ve been better,” your words came out just as raspy as before, only now you were stuttering as well.

Mike knit his eyebrows together and raised his hands to feel your cheeks. “Holy shit, you’re freezing!” he cried, concern taking over his features. He was already shrugging off his jacket when he asked, “Where’s your coat?”

You laughed weakly, “B-back at the lodge, pr-pr-probably.” He made to give you his, but you held up your hand. “Mike, don’t, you need it. B-besides, I don’t… I don’t even feel cold anymore.”

His face hardened, “Take the coat.”

“No!” you told him, stubbornness rising in you.

“You’re freezing! You need to put something on or you’ll get hypothermia!”

“P-pretty sure I’ve hit that point already, actually,” you said lightly, shoving the jacket back towards him. “Put your coat back on.”

He groaned in frustration. “Fine, you don’t want the coat? I don’t want it either. I guess I’ll just leave it here…” he trailed off, moving to hang it up on a broken wire.

“Ugh, fine, I’ll t-take the stupid coat!” you yelled, holding your hand out. He smirked as he gave it to you, knowing that he had just played you like a fiddle, but there was still concern hidden in his eyes. You slipped the jacket on and reveled in the fact that it was still warm from his body heat.

“What are you doing here, anyways?” Mike asked once you had zipped it up.

“I was running from… from this maniac and I… I ended up here,” you said, your eyes squinting as you struggled to recall and make sense of the events of the night.

“Oh,” he said. “That must have been Josh.”

“What?”

“Josh,” Mike’s face grew hard as he tried to explain it all to you, “He tried to pull this… “prank” on us. He’s not right in the head.” He paused before continuing, “But that’s not our biggest problem right now.”

“Mike, what are you talking about?” you asked shakily. You had a feeling you weren’t going to like what he had to say.

“Listen to me, we need to move. But what’s happening on this mountain right now? It isn’t safe,” he told you with wide eyes. “We need to get to Josh, in the mines. We need to get the cable car keys and get out of here.”

“Do you know where to go?” you asked.

“I think so,” he said, nodding.

You wanted more information, but if Mike was scared then the situation was probably worse than he was letting on. You nodded slowly and he grabbed your right hand with his left, intent on taking you with him, but you gasped and let go of him. “Oh my god, Mike!” you cried out, staring at him in horror.

Mike looked confused for a second, before realization dawned on his face and he lifted his hand up to look at it. “It’s okay,” he told you, softly, “I just got my hand stuck in a dumb trap. I’m okay.”

You felt faint as you realized that the fingers you had seen stuck in the bear trap were his. And there had been so much blood, too. “Oh Mike,” you said, sadly, and he moved to let you support your weight on his shoulder, sensing your lightheadedness.

“It’s okay,” he repeated. “We gotta move, okay?”

He bent to pick up his fallen torch before pulling you with him to the other side of the room. When the two of you were met with a locked door, he let go of you and pulled a gun out of a loop on his jeans. You covered your ears as he shot and broke the lock, swallowing your question of where he had gotten a gun in the first place, deeming it not important enough to waste your breath on.

You continued on into the hallway, pressed tightly into Michael’s side once more. You stopped suddenly when you saw movement in the shadows, and whimpered when you realised it was a grey wolf blocking your path. To your surprise though, Mike seemed to recognize the beast.

“Hey big guy,” he said before approaching it cautiously, and the wolf panted excitedly. “Happy to see me again, huh? Was hoping I’d run into you again.” He stooped down to pet it and grinned at your shocked expression, before standing once more. “Alright pal, you’re coming with us.”

You stumbled towards him, eyeing the wolf, whom you didn’t really trust yet, and leaned on Mike. He glanced at you and your other companion before saying, “Alright, here’s the plan. I happened to see a map of this place, so we’re not flying blind. There should be a way through the psychiatric wing that’ll take us right outside the mine.” You nodded slowly as you digested his words. He squeezed your shoulder and looked down at the wolf. “Think you can handle that?” he asked it.

The wolf growled in affirmation and the three of you continued on through the sanatorium. “There’s something you should know,” Mike told you as you lagged behind the wolf. “There’s something down there, in the mines. If we run into it…”

“What is it?” you asked, fear creeping into your body.

“A wendigo,” he said, deadly serious. “They’re these monsters… one of them killed Jess.”

Your head whipped towards him at that statement. “What?!”

“Yeah,” he choked out. “She’s dead. I couldn’t save her and… it killed her.” He jutted his jaw out and looked at you, “I thought it killed you too.”

Your heart hurt. Jessica was your friend, but you couldn’t even begin to imagine the pain Michael was going through, especially with the obvious survivor’s guilt. You squeezed his hand gently, “I’m still her, Mike. I’m not going anywhere.” It was the only comfort you knew how to give.

He opened his mouth to reply, his features soft, but was interrupted by the wolf barking and growling, seemingly agitated. The two of you both jumped and peered into the dark building, but whatever had startled the pooch wasn’t visible to either one of you. “Okie dokie, boy, calm down,” Mike told him, tightening his grip on you as you walked into the building.

“Wolfie,” as Mike seemed to have named him, slipped in between a few bars that were far too tight for you or Mike to follow through, so he looked around for another way through and noticed a lever. When he pulled it, the cell door behind you slid shut, the one in front of you opened a little, and you both squeezed through.

Once you were reunited with Wolfie, you walked down a set of stairs (with a lot of help from Mike) and into an area labeled: Detention Center. Mike explored a little, peeking into rooms while mumbling sometime about finding out what had really happened in the sanatorium. You stayed out in the main hallway with the wolf, too tired to move your feet so much for no reason.

You kept moving until you were met with a gruesome sight; another wolf, darker than Wolfie, was pinned up against a cell door, mangled and dead. You gagged at the smell, dipping out of Mike’s arm to turn away from it.

“Aw, son of a bitch,” Mike said, wincing at the sight. “Jesus Christ, what the fuck have I gotten myself into.”

“Mike, what did that?” you whimpered, though you were pretty sure you knew the answer. There wasn’t much that could tear through an animal like that, least of all one as ferocious as a wolf.

“Wendigos,” he said, his voice shaking slightly. “Gotta be.”

You walked down the hallway to the right after Mike was done looking the area over, your fear growing louder and louder inside your head. It was one thing to hear about the threat, but to see what a wendigo could actually do?

Suddenly, something in your peripheral vision moved. “What was that?!” you hissed, tugging Mike’s arm and pointing out of the barred window into the center of the room. Mike looked around nervously, before pulling you along without comment. Wolfie had run ahead of you, and so when you came to a fork in the path, you didn’t know where to go.

Mike weighed his options and pulled you with him to the hallway on the left. It ended up being a dead end, but an old tape reel, classified files, and the corpse and suicide note of the sanatorium’s caretaker left the two of you with an uncomfortable revelation.

“The miners…” you trailed off.

“They turned into wendigos,” he finished for you.

Eventually you found yourself back with Wolfie, descending even deeper into the creepy sanatorium. You could hear familiar shrieks echoing off of the empty walls, and the tension kept building until the grip you had on Mike (and the grip he had on you) became painful. Something in front of you moved and Michael aimed his gun at it on instinct, but, to your relief, it was just a rat.

You sighed in relief and took another step forward, only to be met with a shrieking wendigo.

You screamed as Mike shot it backwards just in time, and he grabbed your arm and sprinted for the other end of the room. You barely made it up the stairs, but adrenaline was coursing through you and your energy had multiplied by a thousand. He turned into a room, you and Wolfie trailing behind and he barricaded the door with a set of lockers.

For a moment it seemed as though you were safe, but the wendigo shoved it head through the broken window on the door and shrieked at you. You pulled out the knife you had forgotten you had and shoved it straight into its neck, screaming the whole time.

Mike and you ran into the next room and he fumbled with the lock on the door. “It’s okay,” Mike said, breathing heavily. “It’s okay.”

It didn’t last long, though, as another wendigo leapt into the room. Mike shoved you down to the ground with his eyes full of panic. “Don’t move,” he breathed in your ear. The two of you crept silently around the furniture in the room, trying to remain out of the monster’s line of sight, before sprinting out of the door.

You and Mike ran through a line of cells, each occupying even more wendigos. He kept you behind him as he shot at each creature trying to attack you; they could do little more than screech and grasp at you while locked up, but the sight of them was horrifying alone.

Then, the wendigos from before, the uncaged ones, appeared. Mike yelled and grabbed your wrist, hauling ass to the door at the end of the hallway, but your adrenaline was starting to give out on you and you weren’t sure how much more of this you could take. The door was locked and Mike desperately tried to push it open. When the monsters closed in on you, he gave up and shoved a barrel to the ground. It only took one shot from his pistol to make the container explode, and flames wrapped around the wendigos and blew the two of you backwards.

“Oh shit, shit, shit,” Mike cried out when he realized the blast might have freed the others, and he pulled you to your feet and shoved you inside the now open room and locked it behind him. You leaned onto your knees, breathing hard. You were so exhausted that you couldn’t speak, let alone move, and so you whimpered when Mike began pulling on your arm once more.

He paused and looked at you, his expression pained. “I know you’re tired, but we gotta move, okay?” You nodded and allowed him to drag you with him, your feet dragging and body screaming in pain.

You walked for a while and the air began to grow cold again; parts of the roof had given out and snow was piling up inside the sanatorium. The stretch of hallway seemed to go on forever.

Something screeched behind you and Michael yelled, “Fuck!” You didn’t have to turn around to know why, though you weren’t sure you could have turned even if you wanted to. Mike was once again forced to move both himself and you as he sprinted to get away from them. You felt useless and almost wanted him to leave you behind, but you knew better than to bring that up.

As you burst into another room, Mike barricaded the door behind you and dropped down inside of a hole in the ground, before helping you down as well. He reached up to help Wolfie, but the dog refused to follow and scampered off. You were too tired to really comprehend what Mike was saying. He pulled you along, shouting things you couldn’t hear, before he stopped and started throwing himself against a door.

“Can you help me with this?!” he cried desperately, and you pushed as hard as you could against the wood. Michael was screaming again and shooting something behind you. Why were you so goddamn tired?

He shouted your name and threw himself against the door one last time. It broke, and he threw you outside into the snow as another explosion destroyed the building.


	10. Part 9

You opened your eyes slowly. It was bright, and for a moment, your tired, hazy mind couldn’t distinguish between the shadows that were hovering around your line of sight. But after a few seconds of blinking furiously, the world around you came back into focus.

Mike was hovering over you, desperation clear on his face. His mouth was moving, but you couldn’t hear any words coming out; your ears were ringing from the explosion, blocking out all other noise. There was fire everywhere and the building you had just been thrown out of was lit up like a bonfire and lying in ruins. You shook your head to try and clear the fogginess in your mind, but it wouldn’t go away.

Mike was shaking you now, and you could tell he was yelling based on the muffled sounds that were breaking through the ringing. Your deafness and confusion were gradually disappearing, replaced by fear as your awareness of the situation grew. He was obviously terrified, you had never seen him like this before in all the years you had known him. He was shouting your name, panic taking over his features at your lack of response. You tried to talk, to let him know that you were okay, that it was all okay, anything to make him stop making that face, but it was harder than it should have been.

“Mike?” you mumbled when you found your voice.

Relief flooded his face. “Oh thank god!” he gasped, squeezing his eyes shut before opening them again and helping you to your feet. “Oh my god I thought I lost you.”

“Still kicking,” you said, a small laugh passing over your lips.

Mike looked entirely overwhelmed and you realized that he had legitimately, truly, completely thought that you were dead. You must have been non-respondent for a while if he was that convinced, and the thought scared you. You couldn’t even begin to imagine how broken you would be if the situation were reversed.

After a few moments of looking you over, Mike locked eyes with you. His stare was intense and striking and you felt your heart rate pick up as he leaned in.

It wasn’t slow, it was desperate, and the moment his lips touched yours you felt all his grief and fear practically pour into you and you felt yourself beginning to cry. He raised both hands to cup your cheeks and pressed himself as close to you as possible. He was shaking and you were shaking and you were both just two vulnerable kids in a bad situation seeking comfort and solace.

It wasn’t nearly long enough for you, but you were the one to break the kiss, guilt weighing heavily on you. Jessica was dead. She had JUST died, and Mike was still reeling from the loss. What had just happened was not something you could allow. You tried to convey all of your thoughts in the way you were staring at him, though they were confusing even to you. You wanted to kiss him, oh god you had never wanted anything more, but you couldn’t bring yourself to be okay with it.

Mike seemed to understand, at least in part, and he sighed in defeat, “Come on, we need to get to Josh.”

“Mike… I’m exhausted,” you told him as you wobbled on your feet. The constant action and terror in the sanatorium had worn you out completely, not to mention the hypothermia that was still taking its toll on you. Just standing up was taking all the effort you had in you.

“I know,” he said and let out a heavy sigh. “I know, but you have to-”

“I don’t think I can,” you moaned. All you felt like doing was lying down and sleeping, though you had a feeling that if you did that you wouldn’t be waking up.

“Dammit,” he groaned, looking around as if searching for other options.

“Just go,” you said at last, gripping his hands with your own. You didn’t want him to leave you, but somebody had to get the cable car keys, and you weren’t sure that that was going to happen with you in such a state. Mike had to leave you behind.

But he just twisted his face into a scowl, “What? No. Here, get on my back, I’ll carry you.”

“No,” you said weakly, “We’ll never make it to Josh like this. You have to go.”

“I’m not leaving you!”

You tried to retort, but you were interrupted by a screech coming from the burning embers of the sanatorium. Both of your eyes widened at the noise, and your heart filled with fear. A wendigo must have survived the explosion.

“Fuck!” Mike shouted as a smoldering hand burst out of the wreckage. Suddenly, you were lifted off of your feet and Mike ran for the mines with you in his arms. “Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.”

You could see the door to the mines, a rusty, but solid piece of metal surrounded by rock and snow. It wasn’t far, but when you looked over Mike’s shoulder, you could see the wendigo wasn’t far behind. You weren’t going to make it.

Mike’s feet thundered against the ground, putting every ounce of effort he had into getting the two of you safe.

He burst through the door and you tumbled out of his arms, hitting the floor hard.

“Stay out there!” Mike cried, turning to slam the door on the wendigo, but it launched itself against the metal and stuck its limbs in the cracks, preventing him from completely shutting it.

You screamed as it pushed Mike to the ground and threw itself on top of him, trying to claw and bite at his face while he wrestled with it. You tried to crawl towards them, unsure of what you could do but intent on helping somehow, but your body collapsed under its own weight. You stared in horror as you realized that you were going to watch Michael die, helpless to stop it.

“Hey! Fatty! Over here!”

Out of nowhere, Sam appeared, swinging a metal shovel at the monster’s neck and knocking it off of Mike. It recovered quickly and screamed at her, but she just swung again, this time taking its head clean off. The still flaming wendigo collapsed onto the ground, its head rolling away from it.

Mike jumped off of the ground and slammed the door shut, only stopping to catch his breath when he was sure it was locked up tightly. He doubled over, panting violently, and stared at Sam. “Whoa,” he said. “You alright?”

“Uhh, define alright,” Sam replied, equally out of breath.

“Alive, for a start.”

“Yeah,” Sam laughed nervously, still high on adrenaline. “Yeah, alive’s good!”

Mike stood up and walked towards you, inspecting your body for injuries. “The hell are you doing here, anyway?” he asked, still talking to Sam, though his focus was on you now. With the danger passed, you were able to slowly get to your feet, though Mike helped a little.

Sam let out an airy sigh, “I was gonna warn you about the wendigos…”

“I think I got it,” he replied bluntly.

“Yeah,” she said before turning to you. “Glad to see you’re safe,” she told you sincerely and you gave her a weak smile.

“Are you okay?” Mike asked, still looking you over with knit eyebrows. You nodded and he turned around and got down on his knees, indicating for you to get on his back.

You were slightly embarrassed about your weakness now that Sam was with you, but you were even more concerned about Mike’s stamina. “Mike, it’s okay, I can walk,” you mumbled.

“If you walk, you’re gonna be an easy snack for the Wendigo. I don’t need you dying on me, okay?” he said, his tone light but his face serious. “Just get on, okay?“

You slowly got onto his back, adjusting yourself until you were both comfortable, and Mike stood up. “Let’s find a way down to where this fucker lives,” Mike said, and the three of you continued on into the darkness of the mine.

Sam’s headlamp lit the way for all of you, though she was carrying Mike’s flashlight in hand as well. His hands were full with you on his back so he couldn’t hold it himself, but every time you suggested that he should put you down, he quickly shot the idea down.

“There’s no way you’d be able to run from a wendigo like this,” you pointed out when he stumbled a little over uneven ground.

“There’s no way you’d be able to run from a wendigo at all, so…” Mike retorted, readjusting you slightly. “I mean, you were barely keeping up back at the sanatorium.”

You groaned, but let the topic drop. The silence that followed was deafening, and you searched for ways to break it, but you couldn’t think of anything. Sam came to your rescue soon enough, though.

“I was not prepared for how ugly that thing would be up close.”

“Yeah… I noticed something kind of weird about it… about the Wendigo,” Mike said slowly. “It had a scar…”

“So?” Sam asked, and your stomach dropped as you realized what he was getting at.

“I’ve seen it before. We saw these old pictures of some guy with that scar… and he was transforming. Into a wendigo.”

“You’re kidding?” Sam replied incredulously.

“He was one of the miners who’d been trapped, back in the fifties in the cave in. Which means that thing is eighty years old.” Then he added, almost as an afterthought, “At least.”

“Spunky for an old timer,” Sam said, and you laughed a little.

“They cleaned the place out. Killed a lot of people.”

“They? You mean… there are more of them?” Sam asked, fear heavy in her voice. You could hardly blame her for being scared. You still weren’t entirely sure what was going on with the wendigos, but what you had seen terrified you.

“Oh yeah,” Mike told her, a hint of horror in his words.

“How many?”

You could feel Mike hesitate at the question. What you two had seen at the sanatorium… even thinking about it made you shudder. “Too many,” he answered vaguely and kept walking.

“I must have let the rest out when I blew the place up,” he added, mostly to himself, but Sam was quick to reply.

“Smooth move.”

The three of you quickly approached a small lake. The water was dark and threatening and Sam groaned, “I really don’t wanna go in there.”

“There’s no other way through,” Mike replied. Sam wandered away from the water’s edge, postponing the moment when you would all have to drop into the unknown. Mike followed her with you still on his back, his steps getting increasingly slower.

“Mike… is that what I think it is?” Sam asked. You turned your head to where Sam was pointing, trying to figure out just what you were looking at.

Mike cleared up any confusion you had when he said, “Shit. Looks like a grave.”

As Sam stepped into the pit, you tapped Mike’s shoulder. “Hey, let me down,” you mumbled in his ear. He set you down gently, steadying you when you wobbled a little.

“Oh god!” you heard Sam gasped and the two of you turned to face her. “Guys, this is Beth’s. This is her watch!” she cried, holding out a dirty, plastic watch that she had plucked from the grave.

“What?” Mike asked with disbelief, “Let me see.” He held it up for you to see, and you gasped when you saw “Beth W.” engraved in it.

“Look,” Sam said, her breathing labored, “There was a cross here.”

“So this is where she was buried.”

You shook your head, despair clouding your mind, “That… that doesn’t make sense. Who could have buried her?”

“And who dug her up?” Sam added.

Mike looked around. “Let’s keep moving,” he said gently, pulling you both from your misery.

Sam sniffled, but led you back to the underground lake. “Fine, I’m going in,” she said as she crouched down.

When she hesitated, though, Mike slipped in first, testing the water for danger before you both could go in. “Come on, it’s okay,” Mike said, holding a hand out to help you in.

Sam and you stared at him with doubt. “You sure?” Sam asked.

Mike shrugged, “I’m not dead yet.”

Sam dropped into the water and shivered, complaining about the temperature. You followed, cursing as you body hit the freezing water; you had thought that you weren’t able to get any colder, but you were clearly wrong.

You followed Mike as he waded through the water, gasping as the floor began to dip. “Wait a minute,” Sam said, her teeth chattering. “I thought you reached the deepest part!”

“Well I didn’t say that! I said it was okay… like there weren’t any sharks or anything.” You might have laughed at Mike’s response if your mind wasn’t so fried from the cold; it was all you could focus on.

You couldn’t get out of the water soon enough, but before you knew it, Mike was helping you climb the ledge and you were left in your sopping wet pants, trying to pull Mike’s coat around you tighter than was physically possible; you felt bad for Mike, who was only in his jeans and tank top.

Sam stooped down to look at something on the ground.

“Oh shit, this looks like Hannah’s writing,” Mike said when he saw the journal Sam was reading. Your stomach dropped as you sat there shivering in your wet clothes. You knew Mike felt guilty for what had happened to the twins, and the fact that he recognized Hannah’s penmanship at a glance was only a testament to how much he missed her. Your breath caught when Sam began to read aloud.

“I’m sorry Beth. I have no choice. It’s the only way I can survive anymore. If someone finds this, I’m sorry. I had to. I had no choice.”

“What does that mean?” Mike asked, “Jesus.”

You stared in horror as the writing began to grow simpler and more animalistic, until her handwriting was unrecognizable.

“Oh god!” Sam sobbed as she stood abruptly, “It makes sense! I think… Hannah dug up Beth. It was Hannah!”

Mike shook his head desperately and you felt tears pricking at your eyes, “No. No, that’s… that’s ridiculous.”

“Michael it has to be!” Sam told him. “It’s the only thing that makes sense! Beth died in the fall.”

“So what?” Mike yelled. “What does that mean?!”

Sam looked at you, “So Hannah must have buried her.”

You shook your head violently and sobbed, “No. No no no.”

“Goddammit,” Mike gasped. “Goddammit!”

“Hannah was down here…”

You started crying as Sam’s words registered in your brain, but Mike was still in denial, “I don’t believe any of it!”

“She would have been starving! She would have been desperate!”

“FUCK!” Michael yelled, and you gripped his arm, looking for something to ground you both.

“We need to find Josh. Right now!”


	11. Part 10

You were almost happy to get back in the water, the freezing temperature taking over your mind once more and blocking all thoughts about Hannah and Beth. Mike’s grip on you had grown painfully tight, his hand hanging onto your own like it was the only thing holding him back from losing himself in his despair.

Sam cried out as the water started getting deeper, but it wasn’t enough warning for you before you tripped and fell below the surface. You gasped, inhaling some of the icy liquid as you squirmed desperately, trying to gain footing once more and push yourself up. Mike quickly jumped to your rescue, wrapping both of his arms around your stomach and yanking you up, then holding you to his chest as you coughed and sputtered.

Now your coat and head were soaking too, and your teeth started chattering violently as Mike and Sam both helped you out of the water. “C’mon,” Mike panted, “We made it.”

After catching her breath, Sam walked to a metal door not far from the water’s edge and pulled at the handle, and with a tug, it gave way easily, letting a wave of putrid water escape. It knocked the three of you to the ground, each of you caught by surprise, and you felt something graze your fingers.

Sam screamed and pointed at your hand, and you turned your head to see what had touched you; a decaying skull with half of its face missing sat not a foot away from your fingers. You shrieked and kicked the head away from you, standing up faster than you thought your frozen legs would allow.

“Jesus,” Mike gasped, Sam and you still breathing heavily from fright. You followed them into the next room, your heart still beating a million miles an hour.

Ahead of you, Sam’s breath caught, and she whispered, “Do you see that?”

You followed her gaze to the ceiling, where a headless body was hanging on a hook, blood dripping off its clothes and pooling on the floor below it. You felt a rush of nausea when you realized the skull you had touched had probably come from it.

“It looks like that guy from before… with the flamethrower,” Mike said, weakly. There had been recognition in his voice, but the body hanging from the ceiling was not one you had ever seen before. Sam clutched her stomach and whimpered as Mike groaned, “Oh my god, I’m gonna be sick.” You leaned on the wall, feeling faint as well.

“Wait, wait, hold on,” Mike hissed, his attention now on the cracks in the wooden panels. “I think I saw something.”

Sam and you pressed up against the wood, peering through the gaps. On the other side, a dark figure stumbled around blindly, but you didn’t recognize who it was until he started whimpering, “No, I don’t… I don’t take orders from you. I don’t take orders from you, you can’t tell me what to do!”

“Josh!” Sam cried.

The three of you rushed to the door and burst into the room. “Hey Josh?” Mike asked gently, as he approached him cautiously, holding out a hand for you to stay behind him. “Josh? Buddy?”

Josh’s sobbing grew more and more disturbing as he yelled at something you couldn’t see. Mike took another step forward and gently gripped Josh’s arms, shaking him a little, but the delusional boy just began to scream in horror.

“What’s the matter with him Mike?” Sam asked.

“He’s tripping or something,” he replied, raising a hand and slapping Josh across his face. “Josh!”

Josh’s eyes cleared and focused on the three of you. “M-Mike.”

“Josh! Hey man,” he cried in relief, shaking him once more.

“Don’t… don’t h-hit me, p-please.”

Mike looked at him with guilt, taking his hands off of Josh and placing them on his own hips instead. “You were deep in it, man,” he reasoned, “Full mental-jacket.”

“We didn’t think we’d get you back,” Sam told him, her voice thick. She hesitated a moment before speaking again, “Josh… Hannah was down here. For… weeks? A month? She dug Beth up-”

“Sam,” Mike interrupted her, shaking his head.

“But Mike-”

“Hey, let’s just get the fuck outta here,” he said and you nodded in agreement. Josh had been through enough - all of you had - and you didn’t think you could bear to hear Sam explain Hannah’s actions again.

“Okay,” Sam said finally, conceding. “Josh, do you have the key to the cable car?”

Josh nodded and fished it out of his pocket before handing it to her, while you, Mike, and Sam sighed in relief. Sam took it and looked around before pointed to the roof of the cave where light was filtering in. “See that over there?” she asked. “That means there’s a direct way out.”

Mike put one hand on Josh’s back and slipped the other into yours, leading the two of you after Sam. He scoffed when he finally saw the scale of the wall. “Yeah, there’s no way these two are gonna make it up there,” he said, gesturing to you and Josh. You were still clinging to your soaking coat and shaking fiercely.

“Okay,” Sam sighed in defeat. “If you help me up, I can go back to tell the others that we’re okay. You go back the way we came and we’ll all meet at the lodge.”

“Be careful,” Mike told her as he stooped to help her up.

“You too.”

Mike turned away once she had a firm grip on the rock, his hand moving back to hold onto yours once more. “Alright, let’s go you fucked up son of a bitch,” he said to Josh as he led you back out of the cave.

“You didn’t… you didn’t have to hit me so much, man,” Josh mumbled behind you.

“Uh, yeah,” Mike replied, the guilt back in his voice, “Um, I’m sorry about before man. I… I thought you killed Jess. I was wrong.” You looked at him, hoping to comfort him somehow, but his head was down, his eyes avoiding yours, so you settled on squeezing his hand gently. He sighed and squeezed yours back.

You walked back to the water quietly, only Josh’s occasional mumbling breaking the silence. You felt bad for him; his madness was evidently painful and you couldn’t even begin to imagine how it must have felt; but at the same time you, were bitter. If Josh really was the one who had chased you out of the lodge only a few hours ago, you couldn’t find it in you to forgive him just yet.

You shivered when Mike slipped into the water; your clothes were still dripping from your last trek through the lake, and you weren’t exactly eager to get back in. But when he held out a hand to help you in, you sighed heavily and took it.

You were almost to the other side when you noticed it. You had fallen behind Mike, unable to keep up with him, and were instead walking with Josh. There was a small wake in the water ahead of Mike, like something was lurking just underneath; it was barely noticeable, but you caught it out of the corner of your eye. “Mike!” you cried, hoping to warn him.

You watched in horror as he was yanked below the surface so quickly that you could have blinked and missed it.

Before you could even react, the Wendigo that had gotten Mike burst out of the water in front of you and Josh. The waves it created knocked you backwards and your head hit the bottom of the lake hard, stunned.

You were vaguely aware of the danger, that the Wendigo could kill you at any second, but the force of the blow clouded your senses with confusion as you struggled to reach the surface. You couldn’t remember which way was up or which way was down, so you whirled around in the water, panicking.

You weren’t sure how long you were below the water, but just when your lungs felt like they were going to burst you were pulled above the surface.

Michael held you tightly in his arms as he carried your gasping body to land. When you regained your senses and realized that the danger was gone, your body calmed significantly. It was then that you saw the tears streaming down Mike’s panic-stricken face, and how his whole body shook violently as he cradled yours.

“Mike?” you asked, confused. Then you realized that something was missing. “Where’s Josh?” He continued to cry as a dark feeling settled in your stomach.

“It took him,” he whispered with rage, and you knew he was talking about the Wendigo. “Goddammit, it took him and he was screaming and I couldn’t move! I couldn’t fucking move! And… and I thought you were dead… and… FUCK!”

You wrapped your trembling arms around him, tears forming in your own wide eyes. But you knew now wasn’t the time to mourn and you stood up, pulling Mike up with you. “We need to go,” you told him, your hands on his cheeks, wiping his tears with your thumb. He nodded, resolve hardening on his face, and the two of you left the mines together.


	12. Part 11

By the time you and Mike made it back to the lodge, Sam was already at the door. “Guys, come on, are you in there?! Let me in!” she cried frantically and pounded on the glass, groaning from the cold and the fear.

“Sam,” Mike said, catching her attention. She whipped around to face him, letting out a scared gasp.

“J- Mike! Oh gosh,” she exclaimed with wide eyes, “You look terrible.” He was still reeling from what had happened to Josh, and you bit your lip when you saw the dead expression he was wearing. He blamed himself what had happened.

“Gonna look worse if we stay out here,” he said, glancing around. “Come on.”

Sam picked a rock off the ground and used it to break the glass on the door, then reached through the hole and unlocked it. You followed them inside, shuddering at the sight of the empty foyer; the place had looked so alive and warm just hours ago. Mike stood next to you, looking just as lost as he had on your way back to the lodge. You reached out to touch his arm in comfort, but he shrugged you off and avoided your eyes.

“Mike, what happened to Josh?”

You turned to Sam in surprise at her question. “Sam-” you started, not wanting to force him to talk about it, but Mike reached out a hand and touched your shoulder to stop you.

“It got him,” he whispered, guilt heavy in his voice.

“God,” Sam groaned, her voice holding more resignation than grief, “What an awful way to go.” You knew she was just as sad as you and Mike, but she didn’t sound at all surprised at the revelation.

You looked around the empty room for any sign of where your friends might have gone, though you weren’t exactly optimistic at their chances of survival. The last time you had seen any of them had been either before any of this shit had gone down, or just after it had. Who knew what kind of hell each of them had been through tonight, not to mention if they were able to survive it.

“What do you think we should do?” Sam asked, folding her arms around herself.

“We should check the basement,” Mike replied. “Might be someone left down there.”

You nodded, though you couldn’t help but doubt the likelihood that you would find anyone. You trudged after him, your frozen feet complaining at the movement, and succeeded in not tripping down the stairs on your way into the basement. This time, when you slipped your hand into Mike’s, he didn’t resist and instead squeezed it weakly.

The basement was just as empty as the first floor. None of you really spared a glance around the silent area before heading into the movie room, knowing that your loud friends would make their presence known immediately if they were there.

“How do you rate our chances of survival?” Sam asked from ahead of you, her pace slow as she headed towards the door on the opposite end of the theater.

You gave a short, tired laugh, “Oh, you think there’s a chance?” Sam smiled at you, though it was strained; Michael didn’t take your humor as well.

“I’m trying not to think about it,” he said with a sigh, his voice more weary than it had been all night.

You didn’t have long to ponder on it though, when suddenly Chris jumped out of the door shouting, “GO GO GO!” You jumped, your exhausted mind scrambling to comprehend what was happening in front of you.

Emily and Ashley burst out of the hallway after him, both of them screaming as they sprinted out of the theater. “RUN!!” Mike cried from behind you, grabbing your hand and tugging you with him. You tripped up the stairs and fell on your stomach, groaning in frustration and pain, but Mike just pulled you back to your feet and kept running.

Ahead of you, Emily, Chris, and Ashley had stopped and were frozen in place. Your instincts screamed at you to keep going, and you couldn’t even begin to imagine what had compelled them to stop when the danger was so close behind you, but Mike threw a hand out in front of you, forcing you to stay still. You looked at him for an explanation, but his eyes were glued to something in front of him, horror clear on his face.

There was a wendigo on the hanging fixture above the room, its cold stare surveying the room, though it hadn’t moved yet. It was _Hannah_. It felt like your lungs had forgotten how to breath.

Sam ran into the room, still unaware of the monster’s presence, her footsteps heavy on the ground. Mike’s head turned to look at her, fearful of what would happen to her if she didn’t realize what was going on soon. Thankfully, her eyes flitted upward for a moment and she stopped in her tracks, panic taking over her face.

“Don’t. Move.” Mike’s voice was as quiet as it had been before. “Don’t fucking move a muscle.”

Not moving was nearly impossible when your lungs were still heaving from running away and your limbs were all but ready to give out on you. If Mike wasn’t next to you, silently giving you the will to keep going, you weren’t sure that you could have lasted.

As if things couldn’t get any worse, the two wendigos that had been chasing you crawled up from out of the basement. Your breath caught as one landed not a foot away from you, though the beasts continued to jump around, their attention only on each other. Slowly, Michael pulled you away, though you were only able to move a few feet without catching the wendigos’ attention.

One jumped onto Hannah, and the two wrestled with each other, screeching loudly and making your skin crawl. The skirmish ended quickly as Hannah threw it through the stairs, where you had been standing only seconds ago, and then onto the fireplace.

Next to you, Mike was getting an idea. You could practically see the wheels turning in his head as he looked from the light bulb on the wall to the now exposed gas pipe to the light switch and back again. From across the room, Sam was obviously catching on too, and she nodded when they locked eyes.

Mike let go of your hand and cautiously crept away, heading for the light. You were only able to keep your eyes on him for a moment before the remaining wendigos drew your eyes away.

As Hannah ripped the head off of the other wendigo, Sam slowly took a step back, hoping to move closer to the door. But the floor creaked beneath her, the sound echoing through the quiet house, and Hannah turned towards her and shrieked loudly. She crept towards Sam, looking around for more movement, but before she could hone in on her exact location, something awful happened.

You collapsed.

Your legs had been shaking for a while now, and without Mike to hold you up, you had had a feeling that they wouldn’t hold out much longer. You fell to the floor with a crash and Hannah’s attention quickly turned towards you.

Mike had made it to the bulb and broken the glass. He turned, relieved that he had accomplished it without the monsters catching on, but the feeling didn’t last long; the giant wendigo was less than two feet from where you lay sprawled on the ground. His heart fell to the floor. “NO!” he cried, taking a step towards you, but it was busy with you, its claws inches from your face.

You swallowed the urge to scream and run, knowing that that would get you killed for sure.

“Hannah!” Mike yelled desperately, this time catching the monster’s focus and it let out another blood-curdling scream. “That’s right, ugly, get your ass over here!”

It leapt towards him and the horror you had felt when you were the one in danger multiplied tenfold as Hannah got nearer and nearer to him.

“Hey!”

You almost couldn’t hear Sam above the pounding in your ears, but Hannah was once again pulled away from her target. She stalked towards Sam this time, and Mike used the distraction to creep towards you and pull you gently to your feet.

With Sam leading the wendigos away from you, the two of you backed slowly towards the door. The distance seemed endless and you almost couldn’t believe it when you felt the snow crunch beneath your feet; Michael clutched you close to him when you let out a silent sob of relief.

Sam was quick to follow behind you, sprinting out of the lodge and bringing an explosion with her that threw the three of you headfirst into the snow.

The lodge was on fire. You were safe.

* * *

_How did you end up in the sanatorium?_

I… he chased me. Outside. I was so cold… I didn’t know what was in there.

_What was in there?_

…Mike. I found Mike.

* * *

_So you were down in the mines? What did you see down there?_

I don’t… want to…

_Don’t want to what?_

I don’t want to see it again.


	13. Epilogue

You jumped slightly when someone knocked on your front door.

When they had finally let you leave the hospital, you had rushed home, eager to be among the familiar and comforting once more. Mike shared the apartment with you, but when they had given him the “okay” to go home he had decided he wanted to spend some time with his parents; you hadn’t seen him since you had run into him at the hospital while visiting Jessica. So you were alone for a few days, and that was perfectly fine with you. Nothing felt the same, but you were doing what you could to bring things back to normal.

You set down your book and stood with a sigh; you were just getting to the good part, too. You walked to the door slowly, your body still aching from your excursion on the mountain, and peered through the peephole before opening it.

“Hey Mike,” you said, happy to see that it was him on the other side of the door. “I didn’t know you were coming over.”

He rubbed the back of his neck and smiled gently, “Yeah, I just saw Jess at the hospital, so I thought I’d drop by.” His face still wore the bruises of what he’d been through and his black eye had since turned into a sickening yellow color. The stitches on his fingers were already beginning to heal, but his eyes still held a darkness and pain that hadn’t been there before you’d gone up to the mountain.

“Come on in, then,” you told him, feeling only mildly awkward at inviting him into his own house. “How is she?”

He looked the living room over with unfocused eyes, his attention never settling as he scanned the pictures on the walls. “She’s… she’s good. The doctors say she should be able to leave pretty soon.”

“That’s good…” you replied and sat down, growing somewhat nervous at his odd behavior. After a beat of silence, you worked up the courage to bring it up. “Mike, what’s wrong?”

He finally looked at you and took a seat next to you on the couch. “It’s… nothing,” he said, shaking his head before sighing in defeat. “She broke up with me.”

Oh.

It wasn’t exactly right to say that you had seen it coming, but the revelation didn’t come as a shock. Matt and Emily had split up pretty soon after you had all arrived at the hospital, and you knew that they weren’t the only ones growing apart. The relationships that each of you had had with each other were changed now, and some were not for the better. Clearly Jessica had realized that.

“Oh, Mike, I’m sorry,” you told him, but he just smiled at you.

“In a way,” he said, his voice not quite as confident as it usually was, “It’s kind of a relief. I mean, she’s been spending so much time with Matt lately, and I just kind of felt like I wasn’t really making her happy anymore, you know?”

You nodded slowly, unsure of what to say. While there was a slight tremor in his words, he didn’t sound regretful; instead, he seemed to be building up towards something.

“I mean, things before… they were so much different. I can’t even believe the things I used to think, it was all so selfish. I liked Jess and all, but I didn’t really have my head right.

“But then I almost lost her. Then I almost lost you. I could have gotten you both killed. If I had fucked up any more on that mountain than I already did, maybe no one would have made it out. God, you have no idea what that thought does to me.”

Your heart ached at the look he was wearing as he stared at the floor. For some reason, he had decided to peg the blame on himself, though he hardly deserved it. “Mike-”

“Stop,” he said sternly, but a nervous smile broke out on his face moments later. “This is hard enough to do already, okay?” He took a breath slowly before continuing.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about kissing you. And I felt so guilty about it, first because I thought Jess was dead, and then because she wasn’t. It was eating me up inside, especially because it wasn’t the first time that I had wanted to do that. To kiss you, I mean. But I love Jess, and I couldn’t just break up with her, and… so she broke up with me.”

At this point you were lost for words, staring up at him with big wide eyes while he talked through his scattered thoughts. You weren’t stupid, you could tell where this was going, but he didn’t really seem to know what he was feeling. Then again, neither did you.

“The first thing I did was come here. I don’t really know what I was thinking, or even if I was thinking, but I came here.”

“Well, you do live here,” you said, trying to lighten the mood.

“Yeah. But it’s kind of like it was on the mountain. When all that shit was happening, I wasn’t thinking about her, I was thinking about you. I mean, sure I was freaking about her when she got taken, but after that… Finding out about Josh, the wendigos, and everything, I was thinking about you.”

“Well I was thinking about you too,” you said gently. “It’s not bad, just a reflex. We have known each other forever.”

He paused for a moment, mulling over what you had said. “When I set off the explosion in the sanatorium,” he started again slowly, “When I thought you were dead, it was worse than losing Jessica. It was more than just a reflex, okay? And it was more than just a reflex now. I came to see you because you’re what matters.”

The last sentence left you breathless for a few moments. Part of you wanted to kiss him or dance around the room or celebrate somehow, but the other part kept you from doing so. Mike was a known womanizer, flying from girl to girl so quickly that it made anyone rightly cautious. Was he just coming to you because Jess had dumped him? Did he actually want you, or would he care if it was someone else.

Next to you, Mike laughed nervously. “Can you, um… say something? Cause I’m kind of out of my comfort zone right now and your silence isn’t really making me feel any better.”

You locked eyes with him and all of your protests fell from your thoughts. He said your name softly, his brow furrowed as his eyes scanned your face for some kind of a signal. It was a look you were familiar with; anytime you had been upset growing up, your best friend had been right there, searching for ways to help.

This wasn’t some guy looking for his next lay, it was your best friend who cared just as much for you now as he always had.

You took a breath and steeled yourself; he was so close to you, his skin just a breath away from yours. He looked lost, like all the girlfriends in the world couldn’t have prepared him to face you, and you decided that you wanted him.

This time, the kiss wasn’t desperate, it was slow, tentative if only on his part, and you could have laughed at yourself, that you had held yourself back so intently as if a kiss could have undone worlds. His lips were softer than they had been up on the mountain, though you supposed you could attribute that to cold winter air and the stress of the situation, and they moved against yours calmly and perfectly. When you finally pulled away, it felt as if your heart might burst from the look he was giving you.

Mike swallowed visibly, like something was stuck in his throat, and then gave you a smirk. “Is that your way of telling me that I matter too?” he asked, a teasing lilt in his words as he stared at you like you had just saved his life.

You laughed and shook your head. “Did it work?” you asked him.

You fully expected him to keep teasing you, but instead he just leaned in and claimed your lips again. You were both laughing as you kissed, the giggles spilling out of you and filling the other with a wholeness you had never felt before.

Maybe you would never be the same after what had happened. You had slept with the lights on since you had gotten back and if the thermostat dropped too low it sent you into a state of panic. But in that moment, you could have sworn that you would be alright.

You were with Michael Munroe after all.


End file.
